Mister Mixup's Musical Review of 2008

That's me.
Index My music collection.

Mister Mixup's Musical World
Mister Mixup's ocassional musical mutterings, reviews & promotions.
"Trawling my way through record shops, carboots & the online world & gigging whenever possible" Email Me

At the moment I'm making my own musical noises in:

The Blackmarket Sound - Digitaly produced, beats, samples & keyboards & other live instruments and off beat remixes.
Fez - Synth & keyboard, Drums, Bass & Guitar lineup making rhythmic Neu, Can style tunes and some dub experiments.

Tunnel Vision - Difficult synth, noise & effects.

and solo as MisterMixup - oddball ditties, soundscapes and more.

Also check out The Ratt King from The Blackmarket Sound - Beats & tunes

Various compilations, bootlegs, mixes, faves and oddities that I like can be found on my cdr label Whisk
Hit the index for an overview of my entire collection.

OK, there are lots of oldies on view but I download most new music and tend to gloat over classic records and other oddities found on my travels hence the things you'll see below. Mostly vinyl.

Mister Mixup's Musical Review 2010
2009
2008
2007 and before

June 2010

19th/28th June: Glastonbury Festival
Another fantastic Glastonbury festival. I went with Dan, Joe, Mog and Will. We are the "Strange But True Crew". We met up with Mike, Leon, Lucy, Phil, Helen, Andy, Darrell, Karen, mate Doug and later Abi. I never managed to run into John. We worked for Oxfam again as steward team leaders..
For those that didn't know it was the 40th anniversary of the Glastonbury festival and as fate would have it the sun shone for the 10 days we were there. Good vibes and sunburn abounded and the music was great. There is so much to see and hear. The TV footage is great but there is no substitute for being there. The big bands, the small bands, the secret gigs, the collaborations, the visual specticle and club atomospere of places like Shangrila and Arcadia. Since it's beginnings it has seen many changes from hippie roots to it's present corporate/middle class stance but always the music has been brilliant and to an old stalwart like me thats the most important thing. Without music there is no vibe. Since 2002 when the new fence went up this new Glastonbury has emerged and this sun drenched year prooved to be as good as any.
Sat 19th
We arrived, set up and put the SBTC flag up and registered with Oxfam. The heatwave starts. We walked around the empty site for an hour or so going behind the Pyramid and Other stage. Later the first instalment of the Glasto curry was started, this one with lamb and chicken as opposed to the usual veg curry. A few beers and we were settled in. It was Will's first Glastonbury so he had a learner plate on his tent.
Sun 20th
Joe texted Avalon FM that the SBTC were here and they played our request. He also tweeted the Guardian with ongoing episodes during the rest of the week.The afternoon was spent drinking scrumpy (some more than others) before our first night shift. We have our own bar in the Oxfam field and Mog and Dan went full steam ahead taking Will on a trip to drunkeness. Joe and I drank less ( a wise desicion) and Will had the double wammy of getting sun stroke as well. We all passed out or tried to in the heat and when we came to in the late evening Will was missing. His tent was empty and his phone had been lost so we couldn't call him. Oxfam sent out stewards shouting and looking for him. Will in his sun stroke/drunk state had woke and crawled into someone elses tent and passed out only waking when we were and he should have been on shift. A lesson was learn't and from that night Will had changed from learner to legend on his first full day. Welcome to the club, Will.
Mon 21st
Another day spent baking in the sun with beers and your mates.
Tue 22nd
We did our second shift (morning). My team were Simon Fairbanks, Laura Clark and Katelan and James with security and they were great. The afternoon was spent celebrating Joe's 24th birthday at the scrumpy bar in the Oxfam field. The drinks went down, the voices were raised and the crew were joined by Craig, Dom and many others to enjoy the sun and scrumpy. Joe ended up dancing on the table with a girl he had attracted with his wit and charm. This led to the table going over and serious spillage. Me, Will and whoever else went back to the tents to change. When we returned the same thing happened again. Joe and friend dancing on the table and the drinks went over again. By now a complaint had been made about the noise and we were asked to keep it down. This gets Dan going and as he rightly said "We can't be to boistrous, it's a festival". SBTC in action again.

------------------------My team ----------------------------------------------------High spirits-------------------------
Wed 23rd
Our 3rd and final shift on the day the punters are let in. It can be fairly hectic but time flies and by 9pm we were done. It's a great feeling. Free to party.
Thur 24th
We went out and met up with Joe's dad Daryl. We headed for the "Queens Head". On route Joe and Daryl performed at a impromtu singing stage. Joe sang Bohemian Rapsody and Daryl sang some Elvis both to great applause as did everyone else who performed. At the Queens Head we saw My Luminaries, Howls and Two Door Cinema Club.
Evening was spent strolling around the site taking in the wonders and crazy people until we arrived at Croissant Neuf where saw Curved Air. Sonya Kristina and her band dealt out many a clasic tune which Mog and I were well aquainted with.
Fri 25th
Went to The Park stage and watched Lissie, Beth Jeans Houghton, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Steve Mason (former Beta Band leader) and Local natives. We moved to the Other stage to see Florence and the Machine. Then back to the park for a Radiohead secret gig. Actually it was just Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood but that's good enough for me. On route to the Main stage we saw Hot Chip finishing their set. Friday night was headlined by Gorillaz featuring Mick Jones and Paul Simonon from the Clash, Bobby Womack, Snoop Dogg, Shaun Ryder, Lou Reed, Mark E. Smith, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble among the guests.
Sat 26th
Dan, Joe and me started the day in the Cabaret tent and saw a mixture of music, poetry and comedy with Big Beats, Aisle 16, Frank Olivier (Filthy Frank), John Hegley and Early Edition which featured Marcus Brigstocke and Andrew Vincent . Later we met up with Mog and went to see Jerry Dammers Special AKA who had as a special guest Arthur Brown performing Fire. Headline on the West Holts stage (formely Jazzworld) was George Clinton and Funkadelic. After midnight Dan and me saw Lightning Seeds at the Avalon stage who did a great set and for their final number did Three Lions to much optimistic applause. Then we mixed with the crowds at Shangrila in the early hours.

----------Taking a well earning food break---------------

Sun 27th
We all headed for the John Peel back stage bar to watch England in the world cup. There was a lull in the vibe as England caved in to Germany. At the John Peel bar I met the two piece band Cracked Black Pepper. We soon forgot woefull England and enjoyed Jack Johnson's Sunday afternoon vibes followed by a great performance by Toots and the Maytalls at the West Holts. To end the festival we all went to see a great set by Stevie Wonder. Wonderful stuff it was to.

Mon 28th
A long and hot day spent trying to get out and make our way home.

Some Cover versions I heard:

Lissie - "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga
Local Natives - "Warning Sign" by Talking Heads
Lightning Seeds - "You showed me" writen by McQuin,Clark of The Byrds in 1964 but recorded by The Turtles in 1968
Stevie Wonder - "We can work it out" by The Beatles
My Luminaries - "Go your own way" by Fleetwood Mac
Jerry Dammers feat. Arthur Brown - "Fire" by The Crazy world of Arthur Brown
Jerry Dammers - also covering Sun Ra & Alice Coltraine

==========================================================================================

10th June: It's a man's world
So much has been happening. More records and CD's from Anarchy records. Chris's shop got flooded with stock damaged and I jumped on the chance of a few CD's for a change.
Chris is also going through the pains of divorce which brings other possible dangers to his record collection. If you've seen the extra in Hi Fidelity in which rare vinyl (mint God save the queen etc) is offered at giveaway prices by a woman spurned by her cheating husband then you'll know what I mean. Some years ago when Bart lodged at my place for a year he brought all his records for safe keeping. He was going through a divorce too and although everything is fine now at the time the chance of his collection being split brought the classic line of "You'll come home in a body bag if you touch my records" which was recorded for posterity on a solicitors letter.
Anyway in some sort of coincidence I came across this statement on the net from an ebay sale about 5 years ago while I was researching.
"This copy comes from my ex's pride and joy collection of pop memorabilia.
As he's not 'into commitment' right now, I’m not into 'keeping his belongings'. I have listed these before but the boy wonder had access to the account, so Steve here come some items you may recognise.
I will be listing lots more bargains over the next few weeks so keep an eye out..............."
The record she was referring to was the album Please Please Me by The Beatles, The Black and Gold label version. Ouch!!!!!!!
It's a tough world lads.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May 2010

Friday 28th May: The doctor can't help.
The frenzy has subsided a little but so many good records are still surfacing and the doctor can't help me to stop. More Who: LA Forum 2LP bootleg, Athena picture disc, Join Together 3LP box set all in mint. Chemical brothers, Dub Pistols, Monty Python and a batch of 7" singles including Stranglers, Groop, 808 State, Fanny .............and so on.

Monty Python

Friday 21st / Tuesday 25th May: The sickness has come back.
A frenzy took place at Anarchy records after a sensational record collection came in. This was followed by another collection of 7" oldies later that day with many a rarity to be found to top it up. Hundreds if not more. The vultures flocked in. The big collection yeilded top condition gluts of vinyl, promo's, boxsets & bootlegs of mainly postpunk era ie. Stranglers, Barry Adamson, Gallon Drunk, Smiths, Iggy Pop, The Fall, Kate Bush, Weller but also most notebly The Who. A serious collection. Wads of cash changed hands and after a few days I ended up with quality Who pieces including Live at Leeds with all the bits (my existing one is missing two), My Generation demo on flexi disc, picture disc, double bootleg from the LA Forum 1973, Who's missing and Two's missing lp's, Australian issue rarities and a glut of singles upgrading my original ones and adding a few more to my list. Also 4 Barry Adamson 12"'s, Only Ones - Babys got a gun, Gallon Drunk - You should be ashamed (I love this song which I originally bought on CD when we was all converting to that format), Funhouse by The Stooges on Elektra (A French 1977 edition), Stranglers 1977 John Peel session boot on 7" vinyl & the Sverige single from 1978, Big Pink -Dominoes and a few other bits to boot. Bart had the fever too. £145 quids worth and more later. The loft session was played solely out of Barts buys. Good sets too. Cabs, Clash, Chemical Brothers and much much more.
Here's just a few bits that came my way:

Big Pink -----------Stooges------------------Stranglers----------------High Numbers--The Who Flexi---Gallon Drunk--

Monday 17th May :
After 10 days away I saw Chris in Anarchy and bought 2 LP's. The Flying Lizards 1st (a second UK edition with US sleeve art. Reasons unknown)
& Gunnar Graps (Estonian legend) Roosid Papale.

Sunday 16th May : Quiz night
I set a quiz at the Loft. 10 tracks: guess the label. Thom Yorke - XL, Nirvana - Sub Pop, Cabaret Voltaire - Rough Trade, Ultravox - Island, Midfield General - Skint, Fun Lovin' Criminals - Chrysalis, Cabaret Voltaire - Some Bizarre/Virgin, Bauhaus - 4Ad,, Orange Juice - Polydor, Section 25 - Factory.
Ian 4, Mark 4, Bart 3. Bart was allowed to join the playoff so we was looking for one of two clear winners or a 4 all tie with all 3. No one guessed Julian Cope on Island but Bart guessed the Midfield General penalty shoot out question. A tie it was.

Saturday 15th May :
This last month has seen me take a break from buying vinyl, well it's down to a couple a week. It's given me chance to play through heaps of cinyl and CD's I already have, uncovering a few forgotten classics as well as some recent cool toons. Anything from LCD Soundsystem to Soft Option Killing. I've been playing a few Pretty Things classics lately, surely the most underated band from the 60's. Killer RnB Mod tunes, cool swinging London pop (My Time) and top grade psychedelia (Defecting Grey must be one of 1967's best).

Sunday 9th May :
Chris, owner of Anarchy records makes his debut at the Loft and the lads spin toons to kill for.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday /7th/8th/9th May : Gig: Soundawesome spring festival
Fez were on the bill of this gathering of cosmic bands from the Soundawesome website.
Bands I saw were
Friday 7th: Akahum, Starfighters
Saturday 8th: Flutatious, Firefly, The Code, Peyote, B&H, Doctor Hasbeen, Fez, Treason, Ravenheart. I particually liked B&H.

Fez in action
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

April 2010

Sunday 18th April: Mute records night
At the Loft we set ourselves a quiz night of just Mute records releases. 40 records were played. Each of us tried to guess 30 of them.
Result: Mixup 14, Ian 11, Bart 9, Mark 6. Phil kept the weasle going.

Set lists:
Mixup die Doraus & die Marinas, Can, Goldfrapp, Barry Adamson, Mark Stewart, Add N to X, Echo Boy, Parralax, Ohi Ho Bang Bang, die Doraus & die Marinas
Ian: Erasure, Martin L. Gore, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Komputer, Komputer, Depeche Mode, I Start Counting, Dave Gahn, Recoil, Laibach
Bart: Pole, Martin L. Gore, Barry Adamson, Erasure, Moby, Depeche Mode, Nitzer Ebb, Vince Clarke & Paul Quinn, Fad Gadget, Silicon Teens
Mark: Diamanda Galas, Miranda Sex Garden, Einsturzende Neubauten, Armed Response, Yazoo, Johnny Yesno Soundtrack, Non, Boyd Rice, Non, Non

Monday 5th April: Problems problems
Another small collection came my way including Vice Squad, Osibisa, Avon Calling (Bristol Comp), Damned, Clash, UK Subs, Plasmatics and many more.

March 2010

Tuesday 16th March: The problem just got worse.
I just got 200 records from an old mate Neil. Lots of interesting bits. About a half are rock (Zappa, Beefheart, Marley, Eno, Tomita, Man, a few house 12"s etc), a quarter were avant garde and classical (Varese, Stravinsky, Philip Glass, John Cage, David Hykes, Andreas Vollenweider etc) and another quarter acoustic and classical guitar. Didn't stop me going to the record shop though.

Denis Smalley--------------Stockhausen---------------Varese--------David Hykes----Andres Vollenweider-

Sunday 14th March: The first thing you have to do is admit you've got a problem!
While mounting the recent photobooth artwork I did with Alex in London last week the early morning started with playing a series of whole albums. Morning means digging into the albums of yesteryear. As the day moves on the vibe gets more modern and by the evening the beats will be pounding.
I started with Edgar Froese - Epsilon in Malaysian Pale which is hauntingly beautiful. I remember playing it a lot when Mona was pregnant with Alice. Maybe it was the soothing sound that appealed.
Then a stereo copy (as opposed to the mono) of the Decca compilation from 1969 "The world of progressive music" which isn't the bloated excesses that came later but a mix of psych, blues, jazz and folk artists that were all unafraid to look for new ground.
The 1969 album "Kick me out" by The Alan Bown! kept the same mood. My copy is a 80's See for miles reissue and this lineup featured the debut of Robert Palmer on vocals and during the last rave up on the final track he can be heard shouting "Rock on" which is one of the earliest known uses on record.
Next up Number 5 by The Steve Miller Band. I like early Steve Miller albums before he became the megastar of The Joker and Fly like an eagle. This was his 5th album from 1970 on Capitol and has a few gems tucked away amongst his bluesy/west coast psych/rock sound: Hot Chili, Steve Millers Midnight Tango, Going to Mexico and Jackson-Kent Blues are 4 which stand up.
Moving on to 1974 and Joe Thomas - Joy of Cookin' on Groove Merchant. Can't believe I found this for a £1 in a charity shop amongst heaps of crap. Jazzy flute with a funky groove. Enough said.
Then it was back to a side of Steve Miller again before raising the tempo with Rare Mod volume 2 on Acidjazz. Great beat/soul psych.
Then the day moved into an eclectic mix of The High Road, Felix Da Housecat, Inch by Inch, Crack We are rock, Art of Noise, The The, Old skool recs on Rising High, Laibach etc. Some of these were played again in the evening at the Loft to the gang.
The first thing you have to do is admit you've got a problem!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday 8th /Thursday 11th London visit
Inbetween photobooth projects with Alex at Cargo and a film shoot with Kate and Richard at Digital Insanity I found time to trawl through some charity shops and take 2 short visits to Rough Trade on Brick Lane.
A great mixture of old and new. On the day I left I dropped in at Anarchy records, Nottingham and put aside the Steve Miller band and a Laibach 12" to come back to.
In London the list grew to include Inch by Inch 12" from '81, Joe Thomas - Joy of Cookin' on Groove Merchant, Rare Mod Voume 2 on Acidjazz, Jimi Hendrix new 7" (strange going to the counter and buying that), The High Road, Felix Da Housecat and loads more.

Rare Mod---------Laibach---------Joe Thomas-----The High Road
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feb 2010

Feb 28th
After a few weeks at G studio's the gang gathered at the Loft for coloured vinyl night. Styles opted for black and was disqualified but allowed to play his toons. The rest went like this:
Coyote - Blue, White, Yellow, Orange, Red, Red Marble, Pink, Charcoal
Cellar - Red, White, Orange, Green, Pink, Pink, Purple, Luminous
Eionlights - White, White, Lilac, Peach, White, Lilac

Feb 26th, Gig: Captain Horizon, Tap & Tumbler, Nottingham
It was John's birthday and Maria had got a gig for Captain Horizon where they to play for 3 hours. Went down with Ian and Fiona to meet the gang. Could have gone to see Old Basford at the Hubb or The Wickets promoting their 2nd LP.

Feb 24th
Fez band night and I set a small rock quiz (4 guitarists and 1 vocalist) for Ian and Jon. Jon won 4-2. The answers were George Harrison, Wilko Johnson, Todd Rundgren, Bill Nelson & Robert Palmer.

Feb 18th
So! what's going on.
I've been jamming with Fez. Last week Jay drummed with us, next week it's Ben. New tracks Pepper and Platform from the Mixup solo repetoire

Going to press new BMS vinyl soon. Frosty/Earth with Tracey guesting on Saxophone.

Looking for Tunnel Vision gig this year.

Vinyl pouring in. Sounds blazing. Nights here at G Studio's and nights at Barts with the Loft gang. Dubstep, Electro battles, eclectic mixes. Listening to new releases, old classics (Who back catalogue) and much much more.

Feb 9th Gig: The Maccabees, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Big Pink, The Drums - Rock City, Nottingham
The NME awards tour. Went with Bart, Sam and Alice for who it was her first visit to Rock City. A packed venue and a good night. All the bands put in a stirling performance and our faves where The Drums (Cure) and The Big Pink.(Mary Chain).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jan 2010
This month has been about Chris and the revival of Anarchy records. Hip hip hooray. Rob and Jill have sold "Anarchy records" to Chris who has got it open six days a week again with lots of new stock flooding in. Here are a just a few of the great records I've got so far this year.

We've got a Fuzzbox, The Cinematic Orchestra, Smiths/Eminem mashup, Hardnoise, Argent, Old School vs New School EP

Jan 6th
Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll
Went to the flics with Coyote to see the new Ian Dury biopic. Brilliant. Go and see it.

Jan 2nd
First vinyl of the year
Finally got hold of the triple album Headz which I've had on tape since the day it came out. Also filled in a gap in my Small Faces singles collection.

===============================================================
Mixup's best of: 2009

Live
Tuff one as always. In no particlar order these have stuck in my mind but if push comes to shove then Pendulem it is.
Blur, Louis Gordon, Depeche Mode, Florence & the Machine, Audiporn, Steve Hillage, Lady Gaga, Miike Snow, Burial Hex, Linda Lewis, Tunng & Tinariwen, Easy Star All Stars, Neil Young, Bon Iver, Gary Numan, Sudden Infant

Special mention
Captain Cor Blimey, Baby Godzilla, The Wickets, Aladinsainsburys, Fez, The Blackmarket Sound for playing my party

Special Mention *2
Oasis: I saw the last 3 numbers of what is at this time of writing their last ever performance.

Beatles covers - Neil Young / A Day in the life, Steve Hillage / It's all too much, Oasis / I am the Walrus
Pink Floyd cover - Louis Gordon / Wish you were here
David Bowie cover - AladinSainsbury's / Bowie catalogue, The Script / Heroes

Mixup gigs
I played 5 gigs this year which is the most since the mid 90's. 4 in Nottingham and one backstage at the John Peel stage, Glastonbury

Comedy
Bill Bailey, Stephen Frost's Allstars, Ed Byrne

Vinyl
Fruits De Mer 7" vinyl Catalogue, Filthy Dukes - Messages 10" , Kraftwerk - What a Fest coloured vinyl LP bootleg, Louis Gordon - This Air 7", Dubstep

CD
Emcee Killa which features a track produced by Sam Ratty: The Ratt King. All hail The Ratt King.

Mix DJ's
Coyote, DM, Syles, Eionlights, Devast8or & yours truly Cellar

Most improved DJ of the year
Was going to be Styles but right from nowhere came Devest8or spinning old skool and Nu electro classics having never before used the 12 10's.

============================================================================================

Mixup's best of 2008

Live!
Tuff one this year. Hard to call one name so here's a general list
Top Eleven
Holy Fuck (Lo-fi casio driven rock. Meaty and cool. Saw them twice.) , Barry Adamson (Cool ,dark jazz pop), Ulrich Schnaus (Best laptop gig ever),
Steve Hillage's Mirror System, Grandmothers of Invention (Both proving that oldsters can still cut the mustard)
Groove Armada (Will they ever fail?) , Dengue Fever (Cambodian style psych), Nouvelle Vague (80's Bossa Nova style), The Duke Spirit (Rocking, grungy pop grooves. Acoustic set was great also), Francisco Lopez (The most unusual gig. Electronic. No visuals at all. Complete darkness), Jupiter Monkeys (Still rocking it the best)
Next best
The Verve, Hot Chip, Model Morning, Jay Z, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Spiritualized, Gary Numan, Crackle, Wickets
Mars Bonfire, The Stranglers, The Charlatans, Roots Manuva, Metronomy, Duffy, The Singing Loins. Many more

Special mention
Fez (Band I'm in. Our first gig)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Albums: Holy Fuck - LP (It came out in 2007 actually but I heard it this year so.......), Barry Adamson - Back To The Cat, The Fireman - Electric Arguments (McCartney and Youth. Paul delivers some of his best work in years), Portishead - Third, Justus Kohncke - Safe and Sound (mainly because there is a good cover of Feuerland by Michael Rother), Paul Weller - 22 Dreams, Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree..............................erm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Single:
7" Phil Wilson: Industrial Strength EP,
10" Groove Armada - Are Friends Electric?, Lydia Lunch/Suicide - Frankie Teardrop
12" Holy Fuck - Lovely Allen
12" Mercury Rev - Remixes (mainly because there is a track "Senses on fire: Fujiya & Miyagi in the style of Michael Rother). The rest of it is cool too.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beats and Samples:
Anything by the Ratt King
Dert Floyd - Westside of the Moon
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most improved DJ - Eionlights
Business man of the year - Eionlights
Cufflink designer award 2008 - Eionlights