The Delian Mix : Radiophonics & Electrosoniks

Link: Listen on Mixcloud

Link: Download from Mediafire

May 5th, 2012 would have been Delia Derbyshire's 75th birthday. In an attempt to celebrate this in some way, I've put together an hour's worth of music and speech. Obviously it features a fair amount of Delia's work, and her voice in conversation. However, I've also added in pieces and interviews from some of her colleagues at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, as well as a few pieces from non-RW composers who were (seemingly, at least) working towards similar goals during the 1950s and 1960s. 

Also, I've tried to avoid the usual chestnuts which get wheeled out whenever people talk of the Radiophonic Workshop.  Yes, some of 'those' tunes appear here, including 'that' one, but mainly because it allows me to include Delia (and Brian Hodgson) talking about them.  Elsewhere there's some pretty unusual and unheard stuff.  Hopefully there'll be something here to interest even the most hardcore Radiophonic nutcases (amongst which I include myself!)  Anyway I hope you enjoy it... and happy birthday Ms. Derbyshire, wherever you may be... 

Tracklisting:

Delia Derbyshire - Happy Birthday
Ray Cathode - Waltz In Orbit
Desmond Briscoe - Excerpt from 1963 Third Programme interview
Delia Derbyshire - Ziwzih Ziwzih Oo Oo Oo Oo
Brian Hodgson - Attack Of The Alien Minds
Brian Hodgson - Tardis Take Off
Tristam Cary - Opus (M1)
Desmond Briscoe - excerpt from 'Wee Have Also Soundhouses', 1979
Delia Derbyshire - excerpt from 1960s interview
Delia Derbyshire - Pot Au Feu
Delia Derbyshire, Brian Hodgson & John Peel - John Peel's Voice
The White Noise - Firebird
Delia Derbyshire - excerpt from 1997 interview with John Cavanagh
David Cain - May (from 'The Seasons')
F.C. Judd - Fairground
John Baker - excerpt from 1960s interview
John Baker - BBC interlude piece (title unknown)
Delia Derbyshire - excerpt from 1997 interview with John Cavanagh
Delia Derbyshire - Blue Veils & Golden Sands
The White Noise & The Welfare State - Silence Is Requested In The Ultimate Abyss
Brian Hodgson - 2001 interview about Dr. Who theme
Delia Derbyshire - excerpt from 1997 interview with John Cavanagh
Delia Derbyshire - Get Out & Get Under ('Know Your Car' theme)
Desmond Leslie - Asteroid Belt
Ron Geesin - Concrete Line Up
F.C. Judd - 'This Loop Business'
F.C. Judd - Perpetua
Tom Dissivelt & Dick Raaijmakers - Orbit Aurora
John Baker - A Job Worth Doing?
Daphne Oram - Missile Away
Brian Hodgson & Dudley Simpson - In The Hall Of The Mountain King
Delia Derbyshire & Barry Bermange - excerpt from 'The Dreams'
Delia Derbyshire - The Delian Mode
Delia Derbyshire, Brian Hodgson & Don Harper - The Pattern Emerges
Delia Derbyshire - excerpt from 1997 interview with John Cavanagh
Delia Derbyshire & E.A.R. - Synchrondipity Machine
Delia Derbyshire - Time To Go

Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle - Extended Remix by Soundhog

SMB's 1976 FM radio classic.  Deconstructed, straightened up, dubbed out, pumped up, compressed, extended and reassembled.  Result: longer and louder.  That's it, really...

*edit* - Soundcloud download limit busted (Again?!  Blimey...) so the best I can offer is a GE.TT link for a 320k mp3 version: DOWNLOAD

Whole Lotta Helter Skelter - Beatles / Led Zeppelin

*edit 02/04/2012* Well this seems to be doing rather well for my standards.  About to hit 20k plays on Soundcloud, being played on various radio stations across the planet, nice words from someone very connected with 'A Beatle'...  I'm quite amazed, really.  I know most people are just hitting embeds and widgets and things, and not seeing the rest of the stuff that my 10 years of fiddling about with music has produced, so if you're reading this I'd suggest you might just want to have a look around the rest of this blog.  There's an awful lot of stuff here, and you might like some of it.  Honestly!  Thanks to everyone who's played, listened, liked and shared this creation - it's really, really appreciated.  Right, back to the action...

So after saying I don't 'do bootlegs' anymore, I gone and done another one.  I'm not setting out to make a habit of this, it's just that some nice source material came my way and I had a couple of evenings to kill. I don't think I need to say much else about this, really... it's all in the title and the artwork. Suffice to say, I'm of the opinion that if anyone else had attempted this, it would have been a disaster.  As it is, I think it's come out pretty jolly well.  

Could this be the one which finally gets me appreciated and blogged about with 25,000 plays and a mention in Uncut/Mojo/Old Fart Rocker Monthly and all that sort of stuff, after 10 long years of trying?  Yeah, dream on...  Anyway, find a decent stereo system to play this on, and turn the volume control up all the bloody way.  Please let me know in some way if it tickles your rock buds.

*edit* - Soundcloud download limit busted (that doesn't happen very often around here), so the best I can offer is a Mediafire link for a 320k mp3 version: DOWNLOAD

Traffic vs Led Zeppelin - John Barleycorn Must Ramble On

The keen brains may have spotted the fact that these days I don't really do 'bootlegs', or 'm*sh-ups' if you really must use that horrific term (now used in an advert starring Jennifer Saunders, for some revolting sounding chocolate and cheese snack). Many will know I can bang on at length about how what was an interesting art form has become something for the mildly talentless and easily pleased. However, occasionally I do get an idea which I just have to try out. Usually they don't turn out well enough to finish, let alone foist on the general public... or maybe they're too good for the likes of people who think a Nintendo-esque version of a Smiths song is really good.

Anyway, here's something I did, which I think has come out pretty well. It's sort of an attempt to put together a new West Midlands supergroup (with two additional members from the South East), despite three of 'em having tragically left this planet way too early. You'll probably be familiar with the mighty 'Ramble On', from Led Zeppelin's second album. You may not be quite so familiar with Traffic's 'John Barleycorn Must Die', but you should be. Here they are together. 

The band: Steve Winwood - Acoustic Guitar, Jim Capaldi - Percussion, Chris Wood - Flute, Robert Plant - Vocals, John Bonham - Drums, Jimmy Page - Electric Guitar, John Paul Jones - Bass Guitar. If you like it, do please spread it around. If you don't, there's an inexplicably popular, Nintendo-esque version of a Smiths song floating around which you might think is really good.

*edit* - Soundcloud download limit busted (that doesn't happen very often around here), so the best I can offer is a Mediafire link for a 320k mp3 version: DOWNLOAD

Ace Of Wands theme tune ('Tarot' by Andrew Bown) - sH Extended Edit

I'm a bit too young to remember Thames Television's 'spooky' early '70s kids drama 'Ace Of Wands' the first time around (no, really) but I've always loved the theme tune. The work of one Andrew 'Andy' Bown, once a member of '60s heartthrobs The Herd, and future keyboard player for 'The Quo'. He was in a band called Judas Jump at the time of this track, and the sonic qualities of it are very similar to JJ's output, but it's better than anything on their only LP, IMHO (with the exception of the opening cut, perhaps).

Originally a snatch over 2 minutes long, I've somehow managed to almost double it's length (and stuck in a tiny bit of flanging, just for the hell of it). Original 7"s of this are normally well out of my price range, but if anyone's got one going spare..

Andrew Bown - Tarot (Ace Of Wands Theme - Soundhog's Extended Edit) by soundhog

NEU! NEW! NOUVEAU! : Mix90 #6 - "What Would You Do...?"

Link: Listen on Mixcloud
Link: Download from Mediafire

Created & released: December 2011

Tracklisting: 

Side 1:
The Assembled Multitude - Overture from 'Tommy'

The Bootles - I'll Let You Hold My Hand

The Shadows - Fourth Street

The Roulettes - Jackpot

Curley Moore & The Cool Ones - Funky Yeah

The Grumbleweeds - Never Before

Gruff Rhys - Patterns Of Power

The Ventures - Mod East

Shonen Knife - Twist Barbie (Moog Cookbook remix)

David Steel & Jesse Rae (ft. Bernie Worrell) - I Feel Liberal : Alright!

Raymond Scott - Portofino #1

Francis Monkman - Current Affairs

Loose Capacitor - Theme from 'Robin's Nest'

Munetaka Inoue & His Sharp Five - Haru No Umi

Side 2:
Van Morrison - Have A Danish

Arzachel - Queen's St. Gang (Soul Thing)

The Soft Machine - As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still

Steve Hillage - Electrick Gypsies

Honey Cone - Sunday Morning People

Rick Jones - Gulliver's Theme

Jim Ford - Dr. Handy's Dandy Candy

The Hunters - The Russian Spy & I

Roger Glover & Friends - Behind The Smile

The School - The One Who Left Me

Endaf Emlyn - Goodbye 'Cherry Lil'

Johnny Silvo - The Paper Song

Kevin Godley - To Fly Away

Jackie Lee - Theme from 'White Horses'

Ron Geesin - Mr. Peugeot's Trot

George Martin & His Orchestra - King's Road Raspberry Parade

The Monkees - Carlisle Wheeling

The Appletree Theatre - What A Way To Go

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Hey, New Year's Eve! Party time! Wahey! Well, not at Chez Soundhog, obviously... so I've put this together for anyone else who isn't out celebrating one arbitrary number changing into another. I bet 2012's gonna be crap. Anyway...

If you've heard any of the other Mix90s, you should have an idea of what to expect. If not, I hope you'll find it an enjoyable experience. Everything in here is great, as far as I'm concerned. Well, there's one track which perhaps isn't, but I put it in anyway, just for the bloody hell of it and for the comedy value. See if you can spot it. Elsewhere there's beat, funk, psych, TV themes, a bit of prog, electronic genius, some hippy nonsense with extra hippies, library music, contractual obligation recordings, Japanese surfadelia, and bits of a 1963 birthday party in Brighton. All chosen and sequenced with a lot more care and attention than you might think, or than anyone else would smother on such a thing.  There's method in the madness, you know.

Now, you'd not rather be dancing in a fountain while drunk, would you? Eh? Oh...

Old records and a few pints = THIS

Link: Listen on Mixcloud
Link: (download tbc)

Created & released: December 2011

Tracklisting: 

Family - Winter
Crazy Elephant - Pam
The Jaggerz - The Rapper
John Barry - Rodeo
Rachel Sweet - B-A-B-Y
The Pathfinders - To Love Somebody
The Five Stairsteps & Cubie - Stay Close To Me
Lulu - The Boat That I Row
David Bowie & The Lower Third - Can't Help Thinking About Me
Cat Stevens - Bitterblue
The Flamin' Groovies - Feel A Whole Lot Better
The Everly Brothers - Love Is Strange
The Open Mind - Cast A Spell
Chicago - 26 Or 6 To 4
The Greatest Little Soul Band In The Land - Something For My People
Etta James - Tell Mama
The Bar Kays - Knucklehead
Phil Upchurch - The Way I Feel
The Shadows Of Knight - Shake
Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus - Quick Joey Small
Ohio Express - Try It
The Monkees - I'm Not Your Stepping Stone
Jacques Dutronc - La Fille Du Père Noël
Os Mutrantes - A Minha Menina
The Dakotas - The Cruel Sea
Y Niwl - Tri
Jerry Keller - Here Comes Summer

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I just realised, I neglected to post this on here, even though it's been on the internet for a couple of weeks.  So I'll rectify that.  This me and a friend, playing records on record players, fuelled by Guinness and a desire to see what was going to come next.  There's no tricky mixing, no uber-raers, no scratching (well, not that kind of scratching, anyway) or any of that shite.  Just an hour and a bit of really brilliant music, with each record getting played because it felt like it was the right record to play.  There's all sorts in here, although it's got quite a bit of a '60s slant with a fair smattering of soul and a good dollop of Buddah bubblegum.  If that sounds like your 'bag', you might like to listen.  Well, that's the hope.