Oh Happy Man

Anna Cook

We were asked by BBC 6 Music to put together a mini mix in tribue to Andrew Weatherall to celebrate what would have been his 60th birthday. It is made up entirely of music Andrew had a hand in. Broadcast April 7th 2023.

Optimo (Espacio) - Andrew Weatherall 60th birthday tribute mix for BBC 6 Music

On May 25th 2024, to accompany the launch of his Arthur Russell book "Travels Over Feeling" Richard King put together an event at London's Barbican celebrating Arthur's life with an all star musical cast recreating and reimagining his music.

I was thrilled to be invited to play a DJ set in the foyer afterwards. I have been an Arthur Russell devotee for 30 years and decided to play an all Arthur Russell DJ set*. The atmosphere was very special with lots of love transmitting back and forth from the DJ booth to the dancefloor. I really felt a freedom to slowly build it up playing so many of my favourite AR tracks and it was one of my very favourite DJ gis of 2024 so far.


*Full disclosure - there was an additional 30 minutes finale of this set that didn't record where I played non Arthur Russell, disco / disco adjacent records.

JD Twitch - All Arthur Russell DJ set, live at The Barbican, London 25/05/24

David Lynch tribute mix

Bergsonist is a musician originally from Morocco based in NYC.
Genre-free sonic explorations with occasional conversations/guest mixes featuring inspiring artists. 
Find the full tracklist and related episodes on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/bergsonist/episodes/bergsonist-6th-september-2025

Bergsonist 060925

CFM057 - Bergsonist

The final chapter in Phonica’s 2018 Mix Series comes in the form of an intricate and eclectic 75-minute long recording from Optimo’s JD Twitch.

Check out the mix and interview over on Off The Record 👉 bit.ly/PhonicaMix55

Phonica Mix Series

Phonica Mix Series 55: JD Twitch (Optimo)

Here is the 4th in a series of mixes of music that I find particularly tranquil. It is an approximately one hour session filled with music that I think is beautiful and calming to listen to. It is also available as a 320 download. Tracklisting to follow.

JD Twitch - Tranquility Mix 4

This Was Belgium 1987-89 - 2 hours of New Beat favourites

New Beat was born and initially exploded in 1987, went supernova (in Belgium) in 1988 and then the formula morphed a bit and was declared dead in 1989. It was slow and initially all about the atmosphere with industrial strength beats - the main form of rhythmic propulsion being the pounding kick and heavy snare. It was often mainly instrumental and when there was lyrical content it often became more about slogans and giving commands - "Move Your Ass And Feel The Beat!", "Let There Be Brightness!", "Shout Out Loud!". While not really New Beat, it's no surprise Technotronic's "Pump Up Jam" was produced by a crew who had produced a ton of New Beat gems.

In 1989 one of New Beat's founders, Marc Grouls said "New Beat is atmosphere, beats, no lyrics, and sure as hell not commercial!!!!!" But, it was already too late. A zillion bandwagon jumpers had diluted the music and flooded the market with too many sub standard 12" singles. New Beat temple, the legendary Boccaccio nightclub, in Destelbergen, near Ghent, had been closed down and it looked like it was all over, but really, it was just the beginning. New Beat morphed into Hard Beat (many of the tracks on this mix are from the Hard Beat era) which quickly morphed into Belgian Rave, which was huge and hugely influential in the UK and is an often overlooked part of the DNA of UK Hardcore, and all that came after. Then from Ghent, R&S Records established itself as thee European Techno label and a huge wave of incredible Techno records emanated from it and many other mighty Belgian labels, but that is another story. 

New Beat arrived just as I first started DJing and I played a lot of it in my DJ sets and built up connections with several of the leading Belgian labels who would send me 12" singles so I had records nobody else here had any idea even existed. I would compile New Beat charts for the music paper The NME which may have given the impression there was a thriving New Beat scene in Scotland. The reality was very different; people here, many of whom would embrace the rave just a little while later never really took to it in a big way.

This mix is comprised of many of my personal favourites that I have loved since they came out (and two I missed at the time and only heard later). I think the tracks have aged like a fine wine, often sounding as good if not better today as they did then. There is definitely a faint whiff of fromage and a big dollop of stoopid in several of these tracks. Of course, it is not all about the cheese and many of these adhere to the "atmosphere, beats, no lyrics, and sure as hell not commercial" rule mentioned above. Some of the best programmed 303 Acid basslines ever made can be heard here along with transcendental hypno synths and those Belgian beats going on and on....! Slow and low, from under 100bpm up to 116, New Beat doesn't chug, it swings in a very distinct way. If you get to see any videos of Belgian clubs of the era, the way people moved to this music is incredible and so different to any dancing we see today.

Many of these tracks are made by the same people under various aliases, which will perhaps be audibly evident. Most of the names have been forgotten, if they were ever even known outside their native Belgium at all, but all are legends to me. 

This mix isn't any kind of attempt to tell the story of New Beat but rather a mix 33 of my favourite 12" singles from that era showing many of the various strains of the New Beat and Hard Beat sound. A lot of love went into this and I hope someone somewhere discovers this music for the first time and falls in love with it as I did way back when. This was Belgium!

This Was Belgium 1987-89 - 2 hours of New Beat favourites

Slightly edited NTS Show from 30/06/20. Available to download.

if you enjoy this (and other mixes i upload), please consider donating to -

Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER) is a Scottish strategic racial equality charity, based in Glasgow who are focused on working to eliminate racial discrimination and harassment and promote racial justice across Scotland. Read more at  - www.crer.scot. Direct donate at - https://www.crer.scot/about-crer 

Positive Housing In Action is an anti-racist refugee and migrant homelessness charity working together with social landlords, non profits and others to enable families and individuals to rebuild their lives, and promote refugee friendly communities. Read more at - www.paih.org Direct donate at - https://www.paypal.com/uk/fundraiser/charity/133777

Thank you.

JD Twitch - NTS Live 30/06/20 Black Lives Matter Solidarity

No words for this mix by one of the best DJs out there. JD Twitch is an absolute legend and definitely one of the most interesting record collectors in the world. Just sit back and listen how it is done [period]

JD Twitch (Optimo)

The techno moniker of Lars Graugaard - live sets, original material…

Anna Cook

Lars_from_Mars

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