Greetings to all – Hope you’re fine!

Couple of things to report – first off, if you didn’t know already, we (along with the rest of humanity) now have a page on FaceBook, so come and join in if you’re of a social networking persuasion – we’ll make it worth your while!

Secondly, a few Eric DJ shows here in the UK to plug:

Sat 1st Nov : Celebrity Murder Party @ A Secret Location, London
(with Dunproofin, Flying White Dots, Lobsterdust and many others)

Thu 6th Nov: with Radioactive Man @ Concorde 2, Brighton
(Guestlist competition! – RSVP quick if you’re wanting :)

Fri 7th Nov : with Brownstar live & other plebs @ Ocean Rooms, Brighton

Sat 8th Nov : Bust The Box @ The Volks, Brighton
(with ATT100 Bassline Monsters and the resident vegetables)

Full info as usual on the website…

That’s right! A veritable B-town mini tour and a class party in that London. More to come, so if there’s nothing near you let us know so we can sort one out for you!

Next up… another Hectic City mix! Oh yes!

Right, I’m off to put the heating on and make a cup of Earl Gray. Brr…

Hello folks,

Set times for Kendal Calling and Beachdown ahoy!

Kendal : We’re on 7pm Main Stage on Friday 1st August. (Before Beardyman and Dizzee Rascal :)

Beachdown : We’re on 3:45pm (ish) Second Stage on Saturday 23rd August.

All good! Sadly, due to the times of the sets and other restraints, we’re not going to be able to bring the super spanking video experience to either festival (aw!), but rest assured we’ll be making up for it in all manner of other “unplugged” crazyness – and, of course, we want you to be part of it (and you will!), so if you’re coming along, dig out your finest duds and get fresh for the weekend – we’re showing out…!

xEx

PS Making up for the lack of video at the above, Crumbs Chief made an excellent video for “Underground Hand” off 24 Hours – Shame we can’t show it on the big screen just yet… but here tis – Many, many thanks CC :)

I keep a folder on my desktop named “Look-In” into which, until recently, were placed any random new tunes that seemed appropriate for that week’s radio show. Now that the show is no more, the drag and drop reflex has remained, and I’m still dropping tunes into the folder.

So rather than occasionally assemble them into a Look-In style mix, I thought it would be good to post up the links to (mostly) the blogs from whence they came, so you can check them out individually. (This also gives me a chance to plug some of the excellent music blogs that keep my headphones humming happily during the day :)

First up is an acoustic stompy shouter from Jaguar Love, “Bats Over The Pacific Ocean”. You can find it over at Fluxblog, who claim (far more eloquently and knowledgably than m’self) it sounds like a couple of bands I’ve not yet heard. It’s a good first-thing-in-the-morning track tho, and it’s Got Glockenspiel, which is always a major plus point in my book.

Next into instrumental atmos land with Balmorhea‘s “San Solomon” (find it at Shake Your Fist), which has me swooning in the first thirty seconds with an inspired combination of family pool (or is it beach?)-side fun sound effects combined with a beautifully dignified chord change. Great piano dynamics gently tail the track off into the distance, leaving you (or me, anyway) with the kind of gentle grin you get after watching “Life Is Sweet” or something similar.

Also on the same post at Shake Your Fist is an interesting groover from The Pinker Tones, who hail from Barcelona and have already garnered some Latin Music awards – The tune “Worker Bees” (find it here) from their new album “Wild Animals”, doesn’t sound that Latino to me, more of a mid-paced summery 90s funker with a taste of easy listening and some tech twists – reminding me of Towa Tei, who did all of the above with aplomb. If you’re put off by the initial falsetto, keep going, it’s worth perservering…

A far tastier falsetto comes from Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater on “Rooks” (find it at Side One Track One along with a live review and pics). This is from their new album of the same name, which is being heavily pushed online at the moment and for good reason, as it’s an Indie Blog Delight – The backing is played rather over-straight, but the simplicity makes a fine plateau for the luxurious melody and lyrics to spread out over the top like champagne marmite, putting millions of humdrum indie crooners to shame (The vocal swoops at the end immediately bring to mind the late great Billy MacKenzie). I shall be off to grab the full album at first opportunity for sure.

Another gentle groover comes from Nobody Presents Blank Blue, “All The Shallow Deep” (find it at Pasta Prima, although I forget where I grabbed it). The vocal isn’t over magnifico, but the backing gets plus points for the flicking back and forth of it’s time signature, and the floating psych guitars towards the end.

Last up, from Norway, is Ulver’s “Christmas” (find it at Paper Thin Walls) which again ups the swoon quotient (can you tell my current taste/mood yet?) with some strings that sound ripped straight from No-Man‘s “Days In The Trees” before bulldozing into some attention-grabbing heavy-duty indie-progging (3x hyphen bonus :). Freakishly, Wikipedia claims that this lot started out as a “folk-influenced death metal outfit”, but now seem to have ended up as Of Montreal’s really scary older brothers. Who knows? Another one for the “find out more” list though.

That’s it for now – there’ll surely be some more of these in a couple of weeks (although, reading back, I might reign in the verbosity a bit!), but in the meantime, don’t forget that if the links run dry, you can probably catch a cached listen to any of the above at Hype Machine. In the meantime, comments and recommendations always welcome.

All change round here, as someone with access to a cob pipe and a garden fence might say whilst surveying the landscape.

Firstly, Very sad to bid bye-bye and good fortune to my fine friend and erstwhile Radio sparring partner Jim of All Time Top 100 as he moves up to that London to try his luck as an apprentice underling in the Corridors of Power. Yes, I know it’s not that far, but it does render rather impossible the continuation of Eric & Jim’s Look-In. Shame really, just as we were getting our speed back up after the first sacking hiatus.

But Lo!, being as the ratio of clouds-to-silver-linings is equivalent at the moment, the sad ending of the Look-In gives forth more time with which to improve and continue the Hectic City podcasts. Oh Yes!

So here, without any further delay (ha!), is HC7 – A mix made initially to soundtrack a hazy afternoon garden party or simple cocktail on the terrace in May, although it’s sure to keep for a while and be an equally fine dinner companion for the rest of the summer.

The tracklisting may look slightly unusual, and it did indeed surprise me whilst digging for appropriate tunes to suitably bookend the fine grooves of Al Usher and Aeroplane, but the end result is, I think, quite piquant:

As I haven’t dropped one of these for a while, there may be a brief but immediate period of digging around in the back with plugin updates and wiggling bits of wire to get it to fire up satisfactorally, so if the link is dodgy, let me know in the comments and we’ll have someone round in a jiffy with some molegrips to sort you out.

Tracklisting:

Al Usher – Here Today
Aeroplane – Aeroplane
Force Of Nature – Liberate
Chris Rea – Josephine (Vista & Meyland Rain Edit)
Brian Briggs – AEO (Parts 1 & 2)
Timmy Thomas – Why Can’t We Live Together (Pressure Drop Remix)
Aeroplane – Above The Clouds
Can – Vitamin C (Eli Escobar Re-Edit)
Mugwump – Boutade
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Rage Hard (Young Person’s Guide To The 12-Inch Mix)
Pimps Of Joytime – San Francisco Bound
Paul Simon – Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes (Todd Terje Edit)
Coyote – Too Hard (Aeroplane Remix)

Direct download: MP3 or FLAC

Till next time… (sooner than you think :)

Still reeling from the surprise snow shock on Sunday, so it feels rather unnatural to be thinking about the Summer, but that sun is getting warmer again, and there’s festivals on the horizon :)

Therefore pleased to announce our first two confirmed festival shows of the summer – Yay!

First up, on the 1st-3rd of August at Kendal Calling, up in the Lake District – Super Furry Animals, British Sea Power, Dizzee Rascal, Lowline, Howard Marks, DJ Yoda, Dan Vs Scroob, The Lovers, The Man Nick Frazer and us? (amongst others…) Now that’s what I call a fine weekend :) Someone should charge for seeing that… oh they have!

Second up, a considerable distance closer to home on August Bank Holiday weekend (22nd-25th) at Brighton’s brand spanking new Beachdown Festival – Stunning location up on the Downs, and we can get back to our own beds for a change – not that we well, mind… as there’s partying to be done and the company of De La Soul, Lightspeed Champion, The Hat and Roy Ayers amongst others. Delighted to see Brighton back on the festival map!

Set days and times as soon as we know! And more to come!… don’t touch that dial…

Thought it was time I started giving some props and footage of some happening shows, in words, pictures, video and whatever else comes to hand, particularly at the moment when it seems that all we’re doing is sitting in the studio playing with loops and munching Wasabi Peas. Yes, that is fun (and tasty too), but it’s good to get out of the house once in a while, no?…

Anyway, Dublin? The day before St.Patrick’s Day? A chance to pay tribute to the greatest snake-driver in the land? A guaranteed drink-fuelled party-hearty crowd? Oh, bring it on…

Behold the woderful Foggy Notions crew getting down to some Three Girl Bump Jump Inferno – Thanks to Leagues, Leah and their wonderful ensemble for being such cracking hosts. Don’t they look gorgeous?

“Fish In A Barrel” tune of the night : Chemical Brothers “Electronic Battle Weapon 8”
Surprise hit tune of the night : Hardfloor “Mahogany Roots”
Kleptones hit of the night : A new one – You’ll just have to come to a show and find out!

Big thanks to Brian Sweeney for the videos, and for taking most excellent care of us on the night. Biggest of thanks, as always, to everyone who came along and danced like possessed people, especially the bunch that I frugged with at the end to Arcade Fire – You guys were great :)

Till next time, E out x.

Just been watching the considerably above average Amazing Journey – The Story Of The Who – In the midst of which are several clips of an absolutely storming early 80s live take of the excellent Eminence Front with Townshend absolutely ripping up the solo and snarling out the vocals like I’ve never seen elsewhere – it is one of my favourite ‘Oo tracks, for sure, but the version on this doc is volcanic.

There’s several versions of the tune online, even from the same tour – but naturally, not the one featured in Amazing Journey. If anyone knows where the full version of the clip can be found, drop me a line or leave me a comment – I’d be very grateful.

Greetings and salutations! It’s been a while, but we trust you’ve had a rather splendid year – it’s been a crazy one for us, as per usual. All that continual re-pointing of the old headsphere in every which way direction has been quite overwhelming. Our Eric has been out and about DJing here, there and everywhere, and we spent the summer having lots of fun growing a munster of a live show, which we’ve been taking out and around when the opportunities arise.

So, by way of a thank you to all the people that came out and saw us over the past year and a bit, and as a dangly carrot affair to the rest of you, we’d like to offer you Live’r Than You’ll Ever Be, a recording of our favourite show this past year, at Bestival in the Isle Of Wight. A rather crazy affair, as those of you who attended will be very aware. Suffice to say, I think we acquitted ourselves admirably, so we’re proud to present the evidence. Not just the traditional “live album” audio (i.e. just like the studio albums with more reverb and cheering… okay, so there’s some new tracks in there too ;-), but also a rather zingy video slideyshow (thanks, YouTube), and a gallery of photos (thanks, Flickr), both assembled from our good friend Bob’s rather excellent video camera work. Just think of it as the online equivalent of a box set, or deluxe edition bonus dvd and booklet. Or not. It’s up to you. There’ll be more similar shenanigans soon, though, so keep watching the skies in ’08.

Yes, we have been rather quiet this year, we know, but, as the above testifies, we haven’t been slack. It’s been very good to take a little time to get out and be part of the real world, and watch the rather marvellous way that it rotates. And boy, has the world been rotating this year, or what? Now, chock full of our experiences, we’re back in the studio for the winter, working on some new mixes, looking for a new station to host the radio show that Eric has been doing with his good ami Jim, and yes… working on a new album or two. So consider this the first salvo in a new run of K-fun. There’ll be plenty more over the coming seasons, and eybrow-raising stuff it will be too, we think.

Many thanks, by the way, to all of you who emailed to say hi, pass on good things, complement us on our style, or to tell us to pull our fingers out and get on with it. It’s very much appreciated, as always.

Well, That’s it for now. Is this an early Xmas present? Could be… If you like it, feel free to copy it and stuff it in unsuspecting people’s stockings – you never know what might happen.

“…There was so much space, so I cut me a piece, with some fine wine, it brought peace to my mind…” 

…can’t believe I’ve never used that as a title yet, but there you go…

Anyway, out of hibernation we come, blowing off the straw, mothballs and empty sandwich wrappers, to make a couple of announcements. And there’s lots more to come, oh yes.

First off, we’ve got a couple of festival shows confirmed this summer in the UK, so if you’re up for it…

Sunday 24th June – Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, UK – A double whammy of K-fun for The Big G – Firstly you can catch us at the end of your Saturday night / Sunday morning festivities in the Lost Vagueness Ballroom @ 5am for some banging old-time fun, then after a quick roll around in your tents, you can catch us at the Dance Village in The Pussy Parlure @ 12noon for a special Sunday Lunch-Out set, with some extra very special vocal guests (chuffed!) – watch this space for details of these guests and possibly a couple of extra secret shows over the weekend!!! :)

7th-9th Sept – Bestival, Isle Of Wight, UK – Honoured to be invited to participate in what is now established as the perfect endmark to the UK Festival season – And we’ve got one hell of a surprise for this one for you, more info nearer the time – Date / Time of show also TBC, as soon as we know!

Naturally, both these events are sold-out, but watch this space for more summer shenanegans both online and in real life as we get them confirmed :)

Second up, apologies for the irregularity (understatement) of the Hectic City podcasts, and many thanks to the people who mailed in to tell us how much they missed them – Sadly a few unavoidable circumstances got in the way, causing them to fall by the wayside – Bugger. They will be back though, just a little more intermittent than we originally planned.

However, as an added bonus, and to make up for the lack of HC, Eric is now participating in his own real live radio show, in partnership with his good friend and nemesis Jim of All Time Top 100. The show is called “Eric & Jim’s Look-In”, (after our favourite magazine from when we was small, innit), and  goes out every Thursday night on Radio Reverb 97.2FM, in Brighton (that’s where we live, in case you didn’t already know – keep up at the back!).

The show isn’t a DJ mix affair, more of a chance for us to play new releases and stuff we’ve found online at each other while blathering on about the cumulus of our lives and the detritus of other peoples’… you know the sort of thing.

So far it’s been a lot of fun, and we feel we’ve got used to the format a bit now, so if you’re interested, we’ve started podcasting the shows so everyone outside of our locality can have a listen (and there’s a backlog too!).

The blog for the show notes and links is http://ericandjim.blogspot.com/ and here is the feed for the podcast. Let us know what you think…

“…in the summertime, let it roll…”

Yo all, back again with HC6 – A change of direction from the past three sets of fresh, exciting new shit – Here’s a solid hour of fresh, exciting old shit :) – A good dig through the realms of 60s garage punk, proto rock and pumping mod. Most of the tracks date from round 1964-66, with a couple of later ones, and they’re mostly from the UK (the American equivalent deserves a mix in it’s own right, as does the rest of the world!)- Anyway, some you might know, some you might not, but just putting this together has got my pulse racing 10-20 BPM faster than usual, so hopefully it’ll have a similar effect on your good selves! Enjoy :)

Tracklist:

The Birds – Leaving Here
The Creation – Biff Bang Pow!
The Easybeats – Friday On My Mind
The Beat Merchants – Pretty Face
The Koobas – Face
The Boys Blue – You Got What I Want
The Clique – We Didn’t Kiss, We Didn’t Love, But Now We Do
The Attack – We Don’t Know
The Lancasters – Satan’s Holiday
Fire – Father’s Name Is Dad
Davy Jones & The Lower Third – You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving
The Creation – Making Time
The Haunted – 125
Them – I Can Only Give You Everything
The Primitives – You Said
The Outer Limits – Help Me Please
The Movement – Tell Her
Cuby & The Blizzards – Your Body Not Your Soul
The Chasers – Inspiration
The Mickey Finn – Garden Of My Mind
Paul & Ritchie & The Cryin’ Shames – Come On Back
The Poets – That’s The Way It’s Got To Be
The 5AM Event – Hungry
The Beat Merchants – Messin’ With The Man
Ipissmus – Hold On
The Blue Stars – Social End Product
The Birds – No Good Without You Baby

Direct download: MP3 or FLAC