Mixes

tears in the sun

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Dublin label Weeding return for a guest appearance ahead of their upcoming LP release with Irish noise artist, Icebear. Fizzy and fuzzy electronics alongside cuts from Icebear's 'White Dove Dream'.

@reactiontoplastic  @helpwithweeding

Weeding @ The Lot Radio 11 - 04 - 2022

Mr Whippy, you is massive!

1 minute interlude

Track made on Native Instruments maschine mk3. A deeply personal track this. I have sampled Bill Wilson who along with Dr Bob created AA, and without whom I would not have gotten sober 🙏🏻 The big book was written in 1939 & it’s helped countless people get sober.

the steps we took

Created on native instruments maschine mk3

Rabbits

From Lanark to Liverpool

To tie-in with my 200th blog post, this was the last mix I ever tape edited, putting it together on my original Revox B77 reel-to-reel, which I’d bought 14 years earlier, back in 1982. See the post with accompanying images at the blog:
http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2012/11/the-monastic-mix/ 

THE MONASTIC MIX:
‘The Monastic Mix’ was very much a labour of love, gradually assembled in stages, as I bounced between reel-to-reel and DAT in order to add further textures. I did it in collaboration with a young DJ from Liverpool, Matt Shannon, who was into the Trip Hop / D’n’B vibes of the time, which I really liked myself, but didn’t have any of the records (I was, as you might say, on the bones of my arse brassic back then, so I wasn’t in the position to be buying anything other than the bare essentials). We fused Matt’s tunes with mainly older stuff from my own collection for the mix, which appeared on one side of a free cassette that was given away to everyone who attended the launch of 'The Monastery', an experimental monthly club night on Merseyside (plus a couple of Wednesday specials at London's 'Mars Bar' in conjunction with Microdot, the design company ran by Brian Cannon). We made things particularly difficult for ourselves, holding the night on a Sunday, and choosing an off the beaten track venue, Stairways, a Birkenhead Rock club, to which we bussed people through the Mersey Tunnel from Liverpool, as well as attracting others from The Wirral. However, despite all the drawbacks, we somehow managed to keep things afloat for the best part of a year, enjoying some great memories and much musical mayhem along the way.

‘The Monastery’ brought together a collective of DJ’s and musicians who were largely disillusioned with the local dance scene - Derek Kaye, Bernie Connor, DJ Trix, Phil Jones, Desa, Girls On Top, Phil Melia, Kerry Harrison, Ciaron Bell, Matt and myself all played our parts, doing it for the love rather than money, with Martin O’Shea (who, as it would work out, went on to manage the successful girl group, Atomic Kitten) promoting the nights. The basic premise was that we didn't go down the four-on-the-floor path, as this was being played pretty much everywhere else at the time, concentrating instead on groove-based music from the 60's to the 90's.  

Featuring Soul, Funk, Electro-Funk, Hip Hop, Indie-Dance, Trip Hop, Drum & Bass and more, ‘The Monastic Mix’ became cult listening for many of the people who got hold of the cassette, although I’m sure that others found it a bit too eclectic for the time and never gave it a second hearing. I’ve been told that it’s quite a demanding mix to listen to, dark in places and somewhat ‘druggy’ (‘one for the heads’ being a comment made about it back then). 

It’s close to my heart because it reflects my state of mind at the time it was made, which was pretty turbulent. Since my production work had ground to a halt a few years earlier, I was very much in no man’s land, completely detached from the music scene and with no means of expressing myself. I was still totally illiterate as far as computers were concerned and I remember feeling old and out of touch. There were moments when I wanted nothing more to do with the music industry, being punch drunk from the knocks I’d taken during recent years, but, having never had a ‘proper job’ in my life, I was pretty much in a catch 22 situation. I had no money and no prospects, life was passing me by and I was more or less washed out creatively. Suffice to say it was a very bleak period for me.

It was during this time that my friends, seeing how much I was struggling, were urging me to get back into deejaying, telling me that I could make good money by trading on my reputation of old. However, there was a big catch, which was that I’d have to decide what area of dance music to specialise in, which was an alien concept for me, having made my name playing the best of a whole range of styles, rather than just one narrow area. Thankfully (and I can only say this with hindsight) I resisted the temptation to take this option, which would have amounted to selling my DJ soul for a quick cash-in.

The idea behind The Monastery was planted in my mind by my friend, Kermit, who, following on from the Rap Assassins, had hooked-up with former Happy Mondays mainman Shaun Ryder to form the band Black Grape.  Just before they were about to do the final mixes on their debut album, ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah’ (which would subsequently top the British charts), Kermit came to see me in Liverpool with a cassette of all their tracks. I was blown away with what they’d come up with, but it also served to highlight my own shortfallings. I commented that he’d done so much while I’d been wasting away at home doing nothing, but he told me that the time I was spending, in relative seclusion, with my music, books and videos, would prove to be time well spent. He likened my existence to being in a monastery – a comment that very much resonated within me and somehow gave me renewed hope for the future.

The following year, when the idea of a putting together a club night was put to me, I suggested it should be called The Monastery, with the music policy and presentation completely unlike anything else that was happening, combining DJ’s with live musicians. When it came to putting the mix together, I wanted to reference as many of my musical influences as I could, even if it only be a tiny snippet. I managed to cram a lot of them in and I can guarantee that, even after numerous plays, you’ll still recognise new elements hidden away in there. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the detail and, listening back to it later down the line, I became aware of a definite autobiographical slant that didn’t seem so obvious then, reflecting the struggle and soul searching that summed up my life at the point it was made. A mix will, obviously, always have something of yourself within it, but this is undoubtedly more personally revealing than anything else I’ve done – there’s some kind of twisted narrative in there, and I can hear me talking to myself via some of the samples I chose (for example, when you hear the words ‘does anyone remember who I am?’, I really meant it, trapped in obscurity as I was). Even the discordant parts, the bits that jar with me now, show me exactly where my head was at.

It was an important personal step for me, and I thank Matt Shannon for what he brought to the table – I didn’t have all the ingredients myself, and he was also pretty handy on the decks, so Matt was, of course, key to this. He no doubt reads it in a different way to me, but I know it has its own special symbolism for him, especially given he never followed the DJ route, and instead carved out a rewarding career working in the computer, rather than in club realm. 

‘The Monastic Mix’ very much informed what I did later, especially the Teenage DJ project, which built on that autobiographical slant I’d stumbled across. It’s echoes can also be heard via my use of samples in a live context - people who know my mixes from more recent times will, no doubt, recognise many of the samples I’ve subsequently used, which are spun from the same tape, but in a different context – from another time and place.

I think it’s a mix that’s most conducive to a chilled-out environment (and state of mind). I might have given the impression that it’s pretty heavy-going, but you’ll find lots of familiar stuff throughout (it makes for a great game of spot the sample) and I’m sure it’ll raise a smile, and perhaps even the spirit, here and there. 

Greg Wilson - November 2012

THE MONASTIC MIX (by greg wilson and matt shannon for the monastery 1996)

Live mix show for Liverpool's Melodic Distraction Radio recorded May 2019.

TRACKLIST
Rare Silk, ‘Storm’ (Emotional Rescue)
Flying Lotus ‘Pygmy’ (Warp)
Larry Heard ‘Flight of the Comet’ (Black Market International) 
Glenn Underground ‘C.U.O. Trance’ (Peacefrog Records)
Nature Love ‘You Turn Me Around (Karu mix)’ (Love International)
Bantam Lions ‘Can We Come Together? (original mix)’ (Bantam Lions Recordings)
Patrice Scott ‘Chasing Dreams’ (Neroli)
Reggie Dokes ‘Crossing The Atlantic’ (Psychostasia Records)
Shinichi Atobe ‘Heat 1’ (DDS)
Patrice Scott ‘The Detroit Upright’ (Sistrum Recordings)
The Believers ‘Who Dares to Believe in Me’ (Strictly Rhythm)
Trinidadian Deep ‘Sweetness You Bring’ (Neroli)
Wambonix ‘Thank You’ (Jus’ trax) 
Phlash ‘1471’ (Estereo)

https://melodicdistraction.com

Live mix for Melodic Distraction Radio, May 2019.

Live mix recorded for Liverpool's Melodic Distraction Radio, Sunday 13 October, 2019.

TRACKLIST:
Fila Brazillia – Soft Music Under Stars
Pink Floyd – Party Sequence
Pontiac Streasor & Ulla Straus – Item 7
Richard Proffitt – Late Morning
Best Available Technology – Session 4190
The Grid – Crystal Clear (The Orb Remix)
Eddie Harris – Electric Ballad
Laraaji – I am Ocean
Phenomyna – Objectives
Yoshihiro Sawasaki – Magic Dome
Syd Barrett – Golden Hair (Instrumental)
Mood Hut – Peace Out
Bantam Lions – Journey To Fon
Richard H Kirk – The Number of Magic

https://melodicdistraction.com

'Sunday Drive'. Live mix for Melodic Distraction Radio, October 2019.

Bantam Lions 'Sunday Drive' mix recorded live for Melodic Distraction Radio, 8 December 2019.

TRACKLIST
Roger Eno – Stasis Affected
Donarra – Track 4
Ariel Karma – Sister Echo
Geoffrey Landers – Overhead Glass
MinaeMinae – Vorwegnahme
Wino D – Untitled
Mica Levi – Hosting
Best Available Technology – Body Pill
Aardvarck – Everything is Nothing
Floating Points – Birth
Andrew Peckler – Sunshower at Sandy Island
Mohammad Reza Mortazavi – Roaming Pulses
Bantam Lions – Red Streaks in the Sky
Pete La Roca – Bliss
Atypic – Henkhisesui
Kelly Moran – Radian
The 7th Plain – Grace
Susumu Yokota – Kirakiraboshih

https://melodicdistraction.com

'Sunday Drive'. Live mix for Melodic Distraction Radio, December 2019.

Another Sunday Drive live mix recorded for Liverpool's Melodic Distraction Radio on Sunday 9 Feb, 2020.

TRACKLIST
SnP 500 – SnP 500
Blake Hargreaves – Nocturne at Bazilika sv Petra a Pavla, Praha
Pink Floyd – Crying Song
Beverly Glenn-Copeland – Old Melody
Hiele – Susumus Theme
Ulla – I Think My Tears Have Become Good
Jan Jelinek – They, Them
Yoshio Suzuki – Meet Me In The Sheep Meadow
Underworld – Ess Gee
Bantam Lions – I’ll Always Think About You
Special Forces – Trilogy
Pan American – Dark Birds Empty Fields
Cloudface – Twin Guides

@melodicdistractionradio

'Sunday Drive'. Live mix for Melodic Distraction Radio, February 2020

Recorded at home under lockdown conditions for Melodic Distraction Radio.

#bantamlions #melodicdistraction

TRACKLIST
Ulla Straus – Sister
Brian Eno – Slow Water
Kelly Moran – Helix 2
Paul Horn – Nexus
Fernando Falcao – Amanhecer Tabajara
Mohammad Reza Mortazavi – Exploring
Iridescence – Untitled
Panda Bear – Search For Delicious
Kilchofer – Plyn
STL – Untitled 
Benjamin Brunn – Untitled
Gigi Mason – If
Nuages – Apres Les Larmes
Inoyamaland – Apple Star
MinaeMinae – Algenuberzug

'Sunday Drive'. Live mix for Melodic Distraction Radio, April 2020

Freak Power was a band founded by Norman Cook (later to become known as Fatboy Slim), Ashley Slater (the trombonist with the anarchic British jazz big band Loose Tubes), and Jesse Graham aka the Bass Cadet. Their music was a mix of acid jazz with funk and soul, as well as trip-hop.

The Fried Funk Food E.P. is classic electronic meets dub in a way that has held it's timeless charm since 1994. Over the years I have come back to this simple 6 track EP and enjoyed it over and over again. Also worth noting is the album is produced by Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim, Feelgood Factor, The Mighty Dub Katz, Pizzaman, Sunny Side Up, Yum Yum Head Food) before he rose to stardom. Highly recommended.

04 Freakpower Is Beautiful, Baby

Sunday Drive show, broadcast 14 Feb 2021 on Melodic Distraction Radio, Liverpool.

TRACKY
Gaussian Curve – Dancing Rain
DSR Lines – Uitval
Urban Tribe – Nebula
REQ – Stalking
Don’t DJ – Disparata 69
Kitchen Cynics – Dr MacQueen Feeds The Media Frenzy
Led Zeppelin – Bron-Yr-Aur
Sterac – Astronotes
Soft Machine – Carol Ann
The Doors – Cars Hiss By My Window
Eddie Harris – Wait Please
Pretty Sneaky – Untitled

#Gaussiancurve
#dsrLines 
@ekster_label
#urbantribe
#REQ
@dont_dj
@kitchencynic
@thetrilogytapes
@ledzeppelin
@steve_rachmad_sterac
#Softmachine
@thedoors
#Eddieharris
#Prettysneaky
@manarecs


#bantamlions 
#melodicdistraction

'Sunday Drive' mix for Melodic Distraction Radio, 14 February 2021.

Bantam Lions

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