Heroes of 2011: Number 10

The Boiler Room has been consitantly amazing all year. Picking just a few favourites was incredibly difficult as the talent that has passed through this year has been ridiculous. Enjoy the music but you will have to make up your own banter for dissing people in the background to recreate your own chatbox.


BR #73 Carl Craig (live) from BOILER ROOM on Vimeo.


BR#38 - James Blake from BOILER ROOM on Vimeo.


BR Berlin #003 Levon Vincent from BOILER ROOM on Vimeo.


BR #68 Ben UFO by BOILER ROOM


BR #69 Thom Yorke by BOILER ROOM


BR #68 Bake from BOILER ROOM on Vimeo.


BR Berlin #001 Kassem Mosse (live) from BOILER ROOM on Vimeo.


BR 1st Birthday Ben UFO b2b Jackmaster b2b Oneman from BOILER ROOM on Vimeo.


Live From - FACT x Young Turks - Jamie xx b2b Oneman from BOILER ROOM on Vimeo.


BR #49 Fourtet from BOILER ROOM on Vimeo.


BR #44 - Blacktronica from BOILER ROOM on Vimeo.


BR #43 Alex Chase from BOILER ROOM on Vimeo.


BR #42 Addison Groove (live) from BOILER ROOM on Vimeo.


NOTHING NEW #003/ Tri-Angle Records - Obsessions (circa 2001 - 2002) by BOILER ROOM

Heroes Of 2011: Number 12

Compliation of the year for me was Four Tet's Fabric mix released in September and it hasn't left the cd player much since. On paper it looks quite eclectic and unmixable yet it flows, not like a 70 minute going nowhere, rigid to the bpms blend, this was a collage of sounds. Far too many "where the fuck has he got that from?" moments, plus it included some brand new (and at that point) exclusive Four Tet tracks, both of which were of course amongst the many standout moments.

Fabriclive 59
Locked / Pyramid

2010 : Heroes of the year Number 2

Album of the year, some of the best singles and remixes of the year, great dj sets plus a record label going from strength to strength and yet despite me giving him the title this time last year on basically two songs, this time around Kieran Hebden slips down to number two.


Angel Echoes 
Sing (Floating Points Remix) 
Africa Drug (Four Tet Remix) 
Matthew And Toby (Four Tet Remix) 
Stick To My Side (Four Tet Remix) 
VCR (Four Tet Remix) 
FACT mix 

2010 : Heroes of the year Number 12

Just checking my list now and I had to double check I hadn't made a mistake somewhere as Ninja Tune have only come in at number 12! I think it just goes to show how strong the rest of the list coming up is.


Dropping three of the albums of the year in Roots Manuva vs Wrongtom, Bonobo and Andreya Triana was more than enough but then the 20th anniversary celebrations took them to another level. The exclusives and the rarities and the classics - and that was just the stuff they put online building up to it, then came the mammoth boxset. I am seriously still finding gems in there, it really is the gift the keeps giving. Even if it is now impossible to buy and second hand ones are already fetching big bucks, if you do ever see it - get it regardless of price as owning one will honestly bring hours, days, weeks, months, I'm expecting years of enjoyment and surprise.


Roots Manuva - Witness (1 Hope) (Slugabed Remix) 
Andreya Triana - A Town Called Obsolete (Mount Kimbie Remix) 
Floating Points - Post Suite 
Floating Points Ensemble - Almost In Profile 
Antipop Consortium - Volcano (Four Tet Remix) 
The Cinematic Orchestra - Familiar Ground (Solid Steel Version) 
Coldcut - Not Paid Enough (DJ Kentaro Turntable Mix) 

Some new(ish) bits and bobs

I thought I'd try something a bit different, it might turn into a regular idea. Or not. Anyway, I noticed the fairtilizer had changed recently to official fm so I thought I'd have another go at using it. I thought to kick off I'd just stick up some of the records I ripped for the last show so no-one can complain that I'm giving away good quality copies (they are all a bit too loud and distorting) and they are only up as streaming so go and buy them yourselves!

The Beatmobile Part 3

More folktronica from the early 00s in the car again, this time a classic from Four Tet's Rounds album. I think one of my biggest regrets was not buying the cdr promo of the withdrawn version of this album with the Tori Amos samples still in which were removed from the final version of Unspoken when I saw it at the time.


Anyway, it's still a classic and I particularly like this track as when I saw him live (well I say live, playing with his laptop should I say), he made such a weird and wonderful noise, my mate walked out because he thought either he was warming up too long or those noises weren't a proper song.


Download: She Moves She 

Burial / Four Tet

Just realised I hadn't put up a track with this weeks Songs Of Praise post so here is a re-up for my track of '09 that was also a popular choice on Sunday - Burial and Four Tet's Moth.

I stuck it in the show after Toby (Thunderloops / Svetlana Records) had played it on one of his recent mixes and now as a fully paid up member of the Space Invader team, I thought I'd play that one for him. Check his shows every other Wednesday 18:30 - 20:00

Download:

BTW: As I knew at the time that this record was a bit special and pretty limited, I bought two copies when it came out - I would be willing to sell / swap one for a fair price.

RIP Steve Reid January 29, 1944 - April 13, 2010

It was with great shock and much sadness that I read of the death of Steve Reid this afternoon. 

Many people will write much more fitting tributes and recall their memories of the man but aside from a brief history to introduce him to anyone unfamiliar with his work, I would most like to talk about my own discovery of his music.

In the 60's and 70's he played with everytone from Martha and the Vandella's hits 'Heatwave' and 'Dancing In The Street' (aged 16!) to Sun Ra and Fela Kuti. He pretty much played with a whos-who of all the jazz names.

Inadvertently, I had been introduced to him without realising through the intro music on Gilles Peterson's Worldwide show for a number of years but my first time I really picked up on him was when he began working with Keiran Hebden. I don't really know how or why they met up, clearly Reid has been a huge influence of Four Tet's stuff but I wouldn't like to make assumptions as to how Reid was introduced to the stuttery, noisy, electronic sounds Four Tet had been making at the time.

Anyway, I picked up the album 'Spirit Walk' on this link with Four Tet working on a couple of the tracks and then it struck me 'Lions Of Juda', the track Peterson had been subliminally building me up to,  was now being reworked for someone like me - someone who needed the guiding hand into jazz, using modern producers to show the links and references.

They went on to record a few more albums together, specifically them tow jamming for most part, so nothing really opened my eyes and ears again as much as that eureka moment.

Lions Of Juda (from Spirit Walk)

For a more detailed history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Reid

2009 Record of the year 1 : Heroes of the year

1. Burial and Four Tet

Is it cheating to have two people at the number one? Not if between them, their tracks are three of my favourites of the year and their collaboration was my number 1.

I guess 2009 was actually a quiet year for both of them - their entire collected output would probably come to somewhere around 30 minutes of actual music. Firstly Burial, who after all the Mercury prize and outing fiasco last year, kept away from the spotlight and his only release was to be a part of the Hyperdub anniversary compilation.

Four Tet dropped the first single from his forthcoming album late in year and showed that he still knows what works on the dancefloor after a couple of experimental free jazz albums. His choice of remixes was also spot on with Joy Orbison being asked to do the business and delivering. I can't wait for the album in early 2010.

When the two combined on the ultra limited 12", I knew before even hearing the track that it would either bring out their very worst and be some messy experimental noise, or the very best and be heavy dubstep / atmospheric type thing. I was really pleased then that I was completely wrong and in 'Moth', they actually made a deep house track. Ok, house music with some mad noises, those skippy / clicky beats and cut up vocal snatches. Its all about the build, the drops and coming backs for seconds.  That's why we've gotta have house music all night long.

Download:

Burial - Fostercare 

Four Tet - Love Cry 

Burial and Four Tet - Moth 

And if you are wondering where Joy Orbison, the xx, Shackleton and many others are from the chart, check out Songs of Praise on Sunday when me and Colin will be doing a 3 hour run down of all our favourites of the year with (hopefully) very little overlap from this chart. Check it here: Space Invader Sunday 6 - 9 pm