I've heard a lot of slide guitar, but I don't think I've ever heard a song that uses the slide better than this

I Survived, It's Over

Taken Back

Desensitization and Reprocessing

Lizzie

From the forthcoming 12" on Bucky Skank (BS 002), due October (ish). Vinyl only. Distribution by Rub A Dub. Mastered by James Savage.

12" will also feature - 

 Jabru - Whiteboard Jungle
Richmond & Lord Sheraton - Under Me Flat Cap
Richmond & Lord Sheraton - Flat Cap

JD Twitch & D. Jah Clark - Soul On Fire

Autonomous Africa - AA Bonus 10 - Limited edition one sided 10", due 15th September 2014. Vinyl only release. Distributed by Above Board.

This edit (originally created in 2008 for my dj sets) was supposed to be included on the recently released third Autonomous Africa 12". Unfortunately I didn't get permission to use it in time for that release but permission has now been given, so rather than wait for AA 004 in 2015 it is going to come out as a limited edition hand stamped 10" as soon as possible. All proceeds will once again go to the Mtandika mission in Tanzania - http://www.actioninafrica.org/about-mtandika.php

Mastered by Matt Colton. 

A big thanks to Ben UFO and Midland for championing this edit. The interest they generated directly led to the motivation for this release.

Amadou & Mariam - Ce N'est Pas Bon (A JD Twitch edit)

I wait for the right, the right moment
I wait too long
I wait for the right, the right moment
I wait to long and now its gone

Sometimes I look to the stars
Sometimes I look from a far
Sometimes I see it in my eyes
I can't have it, I want it all still the same
Sometimes

Sometimes

We are happy to announce the first in an occasional series of fully licensed 12" releases on Autonomous Africa exploring the influence of music from Africa across the globe.

The first release comes from Colombia's Wganda Kenya with three tracks recorded in the mid 70s. The Caribbean coast of Colombia has a long relationship with Africa stretching back hundreds of years. Strong trading links and migration from West Africa to Colombia led to a distinct African influence on the music in cities such as Cartagena and the local music (cumbia and champeta) absorbed these influences. This was  particularly notable in the 70s as records by Fela Kuti amongst others arrived in Colombia. One of the leading practitioners of this Afro Sound were the mighty Wganda Kenya who were huge there in the 70s and 80s and whose music is still highly regarded to this day. 

While their music has appeared on compilations, there hasn't been a big fat 12" vinyl release since Island Records offshoot, Mango put "Shakalode" out as a 12" way back in 1989.

"Shakalode" on the A side is a powerful reworking of the Fela Kuti classic "Shakara" which was much covered in Colombia in the mid 1970s. It's a transcendental Afro Colombian funk bomb.

On the other side are two other Wganda Kenya gems; the call and response percussive and organ grooving "Pim Pom" and the more traditional Colombian cumbia singalong anthem "La Botellita".

Originally this was going to be a 2 x 12" featuring some other Wganda Kenya magic but sadly the masters to many of their tracks have been lost. There are plans to put out a second 12" of reworkings of these tracks aimed at djs who won't play records unless they can mix them, but of course, these 40 year old tracks will still rock any open minded dancefloor just as they are.

All proceeds will once again go to the Mtandika mission in Tanzania - www.actioninafrica.org/about-mtandika.php

Release date April 2015. Distributed by Above Board.

Autonomous Africa is a collaborative project run by JD Twitch, Midland and Auntie Flo.

Autonomous Africa Vintage  01 - Wganda Kenya - Afro Colombia 12" EP (sampler)

Listen, the Snow is Falling

First track in more than one and a half years. I hope you like it. 

Picture by Julie Smith

Staying

Like the others you wonder
Across the burning thirst of love
Caught your gaze I stand as you approach me
Curiously I stay
Now that you're near, now that you're here

I don't want to go
And you want me to stay
It's too late we've gone astray
and I don't want to to
And you want me to stay
Trade secrets shout loud scorn reality
And we won't leave here tonight

In the darkness I see you move
In the darkness I feel you move
Slowly, surely
Slowly, surely we are getting closer

Safe, we're not safe from the fall
Safe, we're not safe from it all
Safe, no we're going to far
We're not safe, and we don't care at all

Staying

She Wants Me Dead

Raga Tala

Raga Gara

Todd Albright is a Country Blues, finger-style 12-string guitar player and singer living in Detroit, Michigan. An evening’s sonic evocations of pre-WWII Blues covers an extensive selection of material recorded in the 1920’s and 30’s. Playing the 12 string guitar, Todd brings to life an era composed of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Sylvester Weaver, Blind Willie McTell and Leadbelly, among others. Todd’s history playing the Blues reaches over 25 years, though he does not remember a time that a guitar wasn’t in his hands.

He first heard the Country Blues at the age of twelve, thanks to a gifted John Lee Hooker record from his sister. The experience was a profound one—the Blues felt right, and he immediately became a self-taught student of the genre aiming solely to interpret the sounds of the masters. Todd has performed across the U.S, both as a solo musician and alongside his former country blues string band band, The Staving Chain. Throughout the years, Todd has enjoyed sharing the stage with notable musicians and friends such as Dakota Dave Hull, Roy Book Binder, Charlie Parr, and Paul Geremia.

Detroit Twelve String Blues & Rags

TODD ALBRIGHT Detroit Twelve String Blues & Rags

Todd Albright - Savannah Mama

Music of India - Ragas and Talas

Rupak Tal

** Part 1 now available from here - http://soundcloud.com/alexchase/ohm-dedication-series-2-jd **

For my ears, Adrian Sherwood is the most sonically innovative producer the UK has ever given birth to. If you don't know anything about Mr. Sherwood or his ON U Sound label, either do a bit of Googling, have a listen to this mix or read this interview I was fortunate enough to conduct a couple of months ago (when he was in Glasgow) that is on the Racket Racket website - http://racketracket.co.uk/music/jd-twitch-meets-adrian-sherwood/

This mix covers music from the years 1979 - 88 and focuses on Adrian Sherwood's dubwise productions, most of which were released on his ON U Sound label (a great overview of the label can be found here - http://www.skysaw.org/onu/)

The mix is DUB in the widest (and wildest) sense of that word and veers from beautiful, heart-melting songs to cavernously deep, hard bass pulsations to the odd bit of brain melting sonic radicalism. To this day I don't think any other producer has pushed the envelope so hard which is partly down to a general lack of balls on the part of other producers and partly due to the fact that these productions were all recorded to tape and mixed on a desk with 100% outboard gear, so that pushing the tape way beyond its intended limits forms a large part of the character of the sound. His totally deranged dub techniques are perhaps a little more prevalent on part 1 (see below) of this podcast while this part is in the main more of a continuous heart throb with odd moments of sonic destruction, offering a masterclass in dub mixing techniques many of which Adrian Sherwood pioneered.

In my late teens and early 20s, Adrian Sherwood's work impacted on me more than anything I had previously heard and made me think about sonic possibilities in a completely new way. I would buy any record he had been involved with unheard and got into a lot of other artists purely because he had been involved with making their records. Indeed, my nom de plume "Twitch" came from a record he produced and our Optimo slogan "We Love Your Ears" came from the sleeve of a record he remixed. I hadn't listened to a lot of these records for many, many years and fell in love with them all over again while putting this together. It was a complete labour of love to do and a revelation to hear how fresh and wild this music still sounds.

The tracks are mostly mixed together but this podcast really isn't about my mixing at all - it's all about the 25 sonic missives included on it (several of the tracks are different versions of the same rhythm edited together). All the tracks were taken from vinyl so any unintended sonic imperfections are a result of the source records having been played countless times in the past.

This is part 2 of this podcast. Part 1 which focuses on his more electronic wild side (Tackhead, Fats Comet, Keith LeBlanc etc.) is now available here - http://soundcloud.com/alexchase/ohm-dedication-series-2-jd
Should you so desire, the 2 podcasts can be synced together to provide one continuous mix of around 3 and a half hours.

As usual we aren't making a track listing available for the podcast, simply because we feel that knowing the contents often precludes actually listening to it. But, if you want to know what anything is, feel free to get in touch and I will let you know. The mix is a 320kbps mp3 (230mb) and is 101 minutes long.

Optimo Podcast 12 - Adrian Sherwood On U Sound mix part 2 (dub)

I recorded this track one afternoon last April (2012)

sometimes the music comes fast. 

www.facebook.com/beaucrat

@beaucrat

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Pull to Black

Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra crushed this Suicidal Tendencies track for our  Repo Man Soundtrack Tribute. It's flippin awesome!

"Amanda Palmer turns “Institutionalized” even more insane." - Jack Rabid (The Big Takeover)

"Palmer delivers with a track that, despite having a horn section, is an aggressive and paranoid tune, displaying Palmer in a seriously intense light, maintaining both elements of the thrash-heavy nature of the original and Palmer's theatrical nature that has elevated her to being the true queen of the punk cabaret." - Ryan Cooper (About.com Punk Music)

"Amanda Palmer delivers an intense version of “Institutionalized” (Suicidal Tendencies). After the song ends you honestly believe that she needs to be locked up in a padded room." - Chris Martin (Examiner.com)

Todd Albright - Savannah Mama

Third Man Records

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