Dream Baby Dream Baby Dream

John Eden: Dream Baby Dream Baby Dream versions Part Two by Johnedenuk on Mixcloud

1. Fuxa – Dream Baby Dream
2. Christian & the Heathens – Dream Baby Dream
3. Mark Refoy – Blue Moon Dream Baby Dream
4. Madrugada – Dream Baby Dream
5. Luna – Dream Baby Dream
6. Black Tambourine – Dream Baby Dream
7. Savages – Dream Baby Dream
8. Sonic Death – Dream Baby Dream
9. Neneh Cherry & The Thing – Dream Baby Dream
10. Takkyu Ishino – Dream Baby Dream
11. Soma Sema – Dream Baby Dream
12. Zombie Zombie – Dream Baby Dream
13. Moto Boy- Dream Baby Dream
14. Enzo Boni – Dream Baby Dream

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Sometimes quantity has a quality all of its own

Initially I liked the brevity of the Dream Baby Dream mix, but then my obsessive tendencies got the better of me. Banished from the room which contains my records last night I took to the internet to see what other versions of the Suicide track I could find.

What I like about the original its sparse brutal sonics and minimal deadpan vocals. This combination often seems to produce an emotional response in me that belies the simplicity of the ingredients. Ask any techno fan or Zen Buddhist if you don’t believe me.

Folk music, jazz and reggae are all based on versions, standards, interpretations of existing material but in rock music “original compositions” are what gets praised. The “cover version” is supposedly filler, novelty, the domain of jobbing pub bands giving the punters an unchallenging night out with no surprises or musical adventure.

The multiple versions here display diversity in unexpected ways.

Initially I was interested in the different genres which were being used to filter the interpretations. On the surface this is surprisingly varied, taking in pop, indie, jazz, rock, ambient, techno and piano balladeering.

But actually these genres (or the performances of them on display here) are more conservative than what Suicide were doing in the late seventies.

This is exacerbated by the Bruce Springsteen cover of the song (see the previous mix) which seems to have given a green light to various stadium performers (whether actual or wannabe) to reinterpret the song themselves. One of the artists on show here was actually honest enough to describe their work as “a cover version of the Bruce Springsteen cover version of the Suicide song”.

This has lead to a tendency to make some renditions of the song less deadpan and more literally emotional both in vocal and instrumental content. Which possibly says something about trying to appeal to a wider audience. But having said that I also like the balance of bedroom producers, small bands and what I guess are probably fairly well known people here. (The only artist I was familiar with previously was Neneh Cherry & The Thing).

Repeated listening made me appreciate less obvious differences between the tracks in the mix. Variations in bass tones, vocal tics, subtle textural shifts, different crowd noises, “mistakes”, room ambience, drop outs, and glitches caused by the free software I was using. I think these things are important, arguably just as important as the music being performed – but maybe it takes a version excursion to bring out these elements.

Dream Baby Dream.

STANDING UP TO POLITICAL POLICING AND SURVEILLANCE: Weds May 7th

Radical History Network public meeting

STANDING UP TO POLITICAL POLICING AND SURVEILLANCE
Wednesday May 7th
7.30pm, Wood Green Social Club
3 Stuart Crescent, N22 5NJ
[off High Rd Wood Green, near Wood Green tube]

– How and why are the police used to try to suppress public dissent and any challenge to the capitalist ‘status quo’?
– What tactics have protestors and campaigners developed to successfully defend public rights and struggles for a better society?

Including:

– Kevin Blowe from Newham Monitoring Project on community campaigns resisting
oppressive policing and seeking to hold the police to account.

– Dave Morris on London Greenpeace – possibly the most infiltrated group in
UK history. Despite that it continued to be a highly effective campaigning organisation
The group initiated the Stop ‘The City’ anti-capitalist mobilisations in
the early 1980s, and the global anti-McDonald’s and McLibel campaigns in
the ’80s and ’90s.

– John Eden on campaigns against police corruption in Hackney in the ’80s and ’90s.

All welcome to come and share experiences, anecdotes, photos, archive material and general thoughts.

http://radicalhistorynetwork.blogspot.co.uk/

Austerity Reggae Mix

John Eden: Austerity Reggae Mix by Johnedenuk on Mixcloud

(download the mp3 direct from here but don’t go mad and use up all my bandwidth)

In which I slam down a bunch of the tunes I took to play out last week on the loose topic of austerity, poverty and the general insanity of the system.

Tracklist

1. Ansil Collings – Keep The Cost of Living Down (Magnet 7″)
2. The Abyssinians – Declaration of Rights (Studio One 7″)
3. Johnny Clarke – Declaration of Rights version (Jackpot 7″)
4. Earl Cunningham – I Want My Pay (Midnight Rock Music 7″)
5. Lorna Gee – Three Week Gone (Ariwa 12″)
6. Black Uhuru – Rent Man (DEB Music 7″)
7. Half Pint – Mr Landlord (Jammys 12″)
8. Lieutentant Stitchie – Promises (Digital B 7″)
9. Black Uhuru – Pain On The Poorman Brain (JR 7″)
10. King General – Broke Again (Conscious Sounds 12″)
11. Robert Lee – Leader (Fish Tea 7″)
12. Pliers – Rough This Year (Black Scorpio 12″)
13. Cobra – Poorman Shoes (Digital B 7″)
14. Anthony B – Nah Vote (Stone Love 7″)
15. Junior Reid – John Law (Blacker Dread 7″)
16. Joseph Hill & The Culture – Police Man (Mister Tipsy 7″)
17. Barrington Levy – Murderer (Jah Life 7″)
18. Barrington Levy & Beenie Man – Murderation (Xtra Large 7″)
19. Turbulence – Guns Bring Misery (Palm of Gold 7″)
20. Natty King – Guns To Town (2 Miles 7″)
21. Admiral Tibet – Da Pon Mi Guard (Ranking Universal 12″)
22. Dennis Brown – Revolution (Auralux LP)
23. David Harvey – Outro (Novara Media Youtube rip)

Special Unauthorised Guest Appearance from David Harvey via Novara Media.

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Agit Disco benefit for Housmans Bookshop 10th April

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I will be doing a short DJ set at this great event. The other selectors on the night are all contributors to the Agit Disco project, including Neil Transpontine, Stewart Home and Tom Vague.

There are 17 DJs in total! Full details on the Housmans website.

Housmans is probably the first radical bookshop I ever visited and I’ve been going regularly for over 25 years now. It remains one of the few independent radical bookshops in London and you often bump into interesting people there as well as picking up great zines, books etc. They’ve stocked more things I’ve published than I care to remember too…

So! Well worth supporting – and it should be a wicked night.

My own contribution to Agit Disco is available here, and you can check the accompanying mix:

John Eden – Agit Disco Mix #22 by Johnedenuk on Mixcloud

(I’ll be playing different tunes on the night though, I promise!)

January updates

Generally you can find me here again on a daily basis.

Work continues on the next issue of Turbulent Times, but knackeredness and other battles are taking priority.

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Libbe Matz Gang “Infantilised Britain” 7″ EP out now.

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I use and fully endorse this new noise/electronic/experimental record shop in Kentish Town.

You can even see a photo of the shop interior, with my fanzine in it here.

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If you missed my film show last summer, GX Jupitter-Larsen is now crowd-sourcing donations to get A Noisy Delivery out on DVD.

 

Nomex interview for Datacide

Nomex Cassette Cover 2011

Introduction to the piece:

Nomex should need no introduction to Datacide readers, but here goes anyway. One of the organisers of the seminal “Dead by Dawn” parties held in the mid nineties at Brixton’s 121 Centre, Nomex contributed visuals, abstract/harsh performances and much more besides.

His releases on his own Adverse label have included everything from vinyl abuse to the sounds of bones in the Paris catacombs. The Nomex discography also includes output on Praxis, Cavage, and Reverse amongst others. Despite performing across the globe (from Teknivals to art galleries) he is still a purposely-obscure figure to most. What follows is the only print interview I am aware of.

http://datacide.c8.com/emencified-shrill-out-nomex-at-the-controls/

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2013 top ten albums

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1. Sleaford Mods “Austerity Dogs” (Harbinger Sound)

2. Hacker Farm “UHF” (Exotic Pylon)

3. Manix “Living In The Past” (Reinforced)

4. Major Lazer “Free The Universe” (Secretly Canadian)

5. GRMMSK “The End Prophecies” (Libertatia Overseas Trading)

6. various artists “The Outer Church” compilation (Front and Follow)

7. Ceramic Hobs “Spiritworld Circle Jerk” (Must Die)

8. various artists “Noise In Opposition” compilation vols 1 and 2 (Noise In Opposition)

9. EVOL “Something Inflatable” (Alku)

10. Emmplekz “Your Cart Has Changed” (Mordant Music)

2013 top ten singles

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1. Shy FX & Liam Bailey – Soon Come (Digital Soundboy mp3)

2. Xylitol – Kunst Ist Tot (Peripheral Conserve 7″)

3. Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX – I Love It (Record Company TEN mp3)

4. Woebot – Woebiotic EP (Hollow Earth 12″)

5. Libbe Matz Gang – Infantilised Britain EP (Libertatia Overseas Trading 7″)

6. Showtek ft. We Are Loud & Sonny Wilson ‎– Booyah (Spinnin’ mp3)

7. Uschi-No-Michi – Ameratsu (Phatic Music 7″ and mp3 remixes)

8. Spoils & Relics – Turner (Harbinger Sound 7″)

9. Mark Professor – Oyster Card (Rongorock 7″)

10. Ramon Judah – Only Wicked People (Reggae Roast 7″)

(I’ve barely had a chance to keep up with music produced by people I know this year, let alone anything else – apologies for any obvious omissions.)