Terminates Here

235 posts

Front 242 – A Listeners Guide

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Article Listeners Guide

On one hand, I’m pleased that the shot-callers in the club scene have finally worked out and acknowledged the significance Electronic Body Music (EBM) had on the development of various contemporary dance music genres. But simply name-checking an early 242 single doesn’t make you an expert in the style.

Conversely, I once had a conversation with a noted goth/industrial/whatever-we-call-it DJ who simply wasn’t aware of any notable 242 tracks pre-Headhunter. Which was better than some DJs, who thought that one song was the only thing by them worth playing. Or the fact that my corporate social networking profiles all feature a ‘242’ in the username and no-one’s spotted the relevance yet.

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Sunday Lullaby

DJ Setlist

A return to DJing after three months off, a new event designed to capture the Sunday evening wind-down-after-the-weekend market at The Other Place (downstairs at The Albany).  I was playing alongside DJs OstFrau and Translight.  Here’s what I selected for the occasion.

Set 1

Kite – Castle Of Sand
∆aimon – ○+☆≋□
Mater Suspiria Vision – Ritualzz of the Crack Witches
Lebanon Hanover – The Moor
Complot Bronswick – Born In A Cage
Bleib Modern – Lisa
Naevus – Abacus
Ostara – The Rift

(Note: The Naevus and Ostara tracks feature on the Sounds From The Asylum charity compilation, which I recommend you pick up)

Set 2

Yendri – Just Hurt Me
Still Silent – Shockwaved
Page 12 – Vision
Black Heaven – The Smell Of Suicide
Blutengel – I’m Dying Alone
Kirlian Camera – Odyssey Europa
Chandeen – In Power We Entrust To Love
Diva Destruction – Black Heart

Set 3

Jean Michel Jarre – Oxygene IV
The Human League – Circus Of Death
OMD – Maid Of Orleans (dance included)
Absolute Body Control – Figures
Fad Gadget – Ladyshave
Mesh – You Didn’t Want Me
VNV Nation – Nova

 

A Listeners Guide To…

News

There were times in my online life where I felt the pressure to be constantly reviewing and critiquing ‘new’ music by ‘new’ bands. Certainly, this is helpful in bringing people’s attention to sounds they otherwise might not hear and gives an important ‘leg up’ to up-and-coming musicians that don’t benefit from music industry backing. And there’s a number of sites blazing that trail now.

But when I look at my recent DJ activity, I find that my natural audience isn’t in tune with this mindset. With the exception of a few recent breakthrough acts (She Past Away, Lebanon Hanover and Youth Code spring to mind), demand on request sheets is for the classics. Similarly, my bookings for specific-genre nights are usually retro of one description or another. The DJ slots where you can play the tastemaker are tied up by a fraternity I have no means of entering.

But neither do I take any joy in playing the same hits over and over. There’s a lot of bands with a lot of songs out there, and a newcomer to a particular band is going to struggle to find the best place to start with large backcatalogues. The albums might be on Spotify, iTunes, etc, but where to start? Often I’ve heard people dismiss an entire band due to having heard (unknowingly) one of their ‘difficult’ albums acquired for pennies in a second-hand dealer. So it’s time to unpick the backcatalogues of bands that have too much music to listen to in one go.

And I’ve started with a long-running favourite of mine – Project Pitchfork.

Project Pitchfork – A Listeners Guide

Article Listeners Guide

My discovery of the whole goth/industrial/darkwave scene in the late 90s relied on a few clubs, some word of mouth and a still very patchy World Wide Web. One name that kept cropping up was Project Pitchfork, a band no-one could really describe in the few words, but the name itself intrigued me. Every successive track I heard piqued that curiosity further. I remained a fan even after they’d fallen out of favour with others. And their releases, the good and not-so-good, always got me thinking. In every possible sense, they’re the right candidate for my first ‘Listeners Guide’.

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Ten Albums – Ten Days

Article

There was this recent trend on Facebook to post Ten Albums across Ten Days.  Some versions involved just posting the cover, others involved writing.  Me being me, I did the written version.  It’s been a while since I posted anything here, so I thought I’d take the content and turn it into an article here, editing only for the occasional typo and to reflect the changed medium.  Note that this isn’t strictly my ‘all time top 10 albums’, certainly not on a pure musical/production level.  It’s just the 10 albums about which I thought I could spin the best tale. Continue reading →

This Is Spinal Tap – Turn It Up To 11

DJ Setlist

This was a DJ set at Deptford Cinema, a small volunteer-run picturehouse that runs various film-based events.  This was a showing of ‘This Is Spinal Tap’, complete with an air guitar based ‘Battle of the Bands’ and a classic rock and metal soundtrack in the bar (that was my bit).

Tonight’s soundtrack therefore included some tracks from the film, a couple of tributes to ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke who died earlier in the week, and multiple requests for Iron Maiden (obviously in the mood for British metal bands going globetrotting!).

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Texas Flood
The Beatles – Across The Universe
Bob Dylan – Desolation Row
Lou Reed – Walk On The Wild Side
Leonard Cohen – Closing Time
Alan Parsons Project – Mammagamma
King Crimson – Red
Spinal Tap – Stonehenge
Aphrodite’s Child – The Four Horsemen
Led Zeppelin – When The Levee Breaks
Black Sabbath – Evil Woman
Nazareth – Hair Of The Dog
T-Rex – Children Of The Revolution
Hanoi Rock – Up Around The Bend
Slade – Cum On Feel The Noise
Scorpions – Rock You Like A Hurricane
Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
Journey – Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
Ratt – Round And Round

<This Is Spinal Tap>

Mercyful Fate – Evil
Anvil – Metal On Metal
Accept – Fast As A Shark
Anthrax – Got The Time
Saxon – Never Surrender
Motörhead – Ace Of Spades
Iron Maiden – The Number Of The Beast
Metallica – For Whom The Bell Tolls
Grave Digger – Rebellion (The Clans Are Marching)
Manowar – Kings of Metal
Sabaton – Primo Victoria
Steel Panther – Death To All But Metal
W.A.S.P. – Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)
Spinal Tap – Hellhole
Tesla – Cumin’ Atcha’ Live
Skid Row – Youth Gone Wild
Poison – Unskinny Bop
Twisted Sister – We’re Not Gonna Take It
Van Halen – Jump
Bon Jovi – Livin’ On A Prayer
Alice Cooper – Poison
Def Leppard – Pour Some Sugar On Me
Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Train
Iron Maiden – Hallowed By Thy Name
Judas Priest – Living After Midnight
Spinal Tap – Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight
AC/DC – Highway To Hell
Iggy Pop – I Wanna Be Your Dog
The Who – My Generation
Rolling Stone – I Can’t Get No Satisfaction
David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town
Whitesnake – Give Me All Of Your Love
Guns’n’Roses – Live And Let Die
Iron Maiden – The Trooper
Motörhead – Overkill
Dio – Holy Diver
Deep Purple – Smoke On The Water
Rainbow – Stargazer
Argent – God Gave Rock and Roll To You

Daancing and Larfing

DJ Setlist

My final set of 2017 was at the Daancing and Larfing event, a former Manchester-based night revived in South London for one night to celebrate the birthday of the founder, Nathan Clemence (aka DJ Nathan Nothing from Tragedy >For Us< and various other events).  There were four comedy acts followed by two live music acts – Black Light Ascension and Special Love.  DJ-wise, with DJ Matt The Mo opening up and Getrud Stein closing, my sets were during and after the bands.

Between The Bands

Batch ID – EBM-Girl
Blitzmaschine – Useless Pain
Bloodygrave und Die Lust – Hass & Spass
End Of Data – If I’m Not A Killer
A Thousand Societies – EBM! (A Thousand BPM)
Amnistia – Prosperity
Bakterielle Infektion – Actors on Stage

After The Bands

Depeche Mode – Ice Machine
Robert Görl – Playtime
Cabaret Voltaire – Just Fascination
Front 242 – No Shuffle
Liaisons Dangereuses – Los Niños del Parque
Absolute Body Control – Figures
Eleven Pond – Watching Trees
Fad Gadget – Collapsing New People
John Foxx – No-One Driving
B-Movie – Remembrance Day
Ultravox – All Stood Still
Human League – Empire State Human
Kraftwerk – Radioactivity (The Mix)
Nitzer Ebb – Join In The Chant
Skinny Puppy – Smothered Hope
Leæther Strip – Strap Me Down
Front Line Assembly – Plasticity
Project Pitchfork – K.N.K.A. (Climax Version)
Laibach – Tanz Mit Laibach
DAF – Der Mussolini
Gary Numan – Metal
OMD – Maid of Orleans
Jean Michel Jarre – Oxygene IV

Yesterday’s Shadow – December 2017

DJ Setlist

The last YS of 2017 was an ‘invitational’ where all DJs who’d played the event during the year were invited back for one more go.  I was of course up for it as ever, though the 8 DJ line-up meant sets were necessarily short and an early start the next day also meant an midnight end for me.  I’m still amazed about how much I fitted in, though!

Set 1 – 9:00pm

Front 242 – Geography I
Laibach – Alle Gegen Alle
Kraftwerk – Pocket Calculator
Robert Marlow – The Face of Dorian Gray
Arbeid Adelt! – De dag dat het zonlicht niet meer scheen
Siglo xx – Individuality
Durutti Column – Sketch For Summer
Young Marble Giants – Include Me Out
XTC – Science Friction

Set 2 – 11:30pm

In an era when Whamageddon is actually a thing, cheesy Christmas hits were banned at this event.  Foul-mouthed punky ones?  They’re still OK.  But first better get something tuneful in……

David Bowie – Sound And Vision
Levellers – One Way
Waterboys – The Whole Of The Moon
Big Country – In A Big Country
Adam Ant – Stand And Deliver
Killing Joke – Eighties
Slaughter and the Dogs – Situations
Undertones – Teenage Kicks
UK Subs – Hey Santa
The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Comfort And Oi!)

DJ Terminates Here vs DJ The Scott – December 2017

DJ Setlist

By now, the worst of the snow had cleared and hence we had a decent turnout for our final post-ABBS Open Request List of the year.

Set 1

Manic Street Preachers – Motorcycle Emptiness
Killing Joke – Eighties
Depeche Mode – Wrong
Kirlian Camera – Blue Room (7″)
Deine Lakaien – Reincarnation
Colony 5 – My World
Apoptygma Berzerk – Non-Stop Violence
Light Asylum – Dark Allies
Ladytron – Destroy Everything You Touch
Einstürzende Neubauten – Die Interimsliebenden
Eisbrecher – Ohne Dich
Gary Moore – Friday On My Mind
Exploited – Punk’s Not Dead
Virgin Prunes – Baby Turns Blue
Pink Turns Blue – Walking On Both Sides

Set 2

Alphaville – Big In Japan
Talk Talk – Such A Shame
Depeche Mode – Never Let Me Down
Talking Heads – Psycho Killer (the all-time Aces Sunday favourite!)
Blondie – Atomic
Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart
This Ascension – Megan
Tones On Tail – Performance
Inspiral Carpets – Saturn 5

Set 3

Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town
The Rolling Stones – Beast Of Burden
Fleetwood Mac – Go Your Own Way
Black Sabbath – Evil Woman
Pearl Jam – Even Flow
Soundgarden – Rusty Cage
Tool – Stinkfist
Lindemann – Praise Abort
Front 242 – Headhunter (Live Moments)
Soft Cell – Sex Dwarf

Final Tag-Team

Scott’s tracks are in italics.

Nick Cave – Deanna
Depeche Mode – Blasphemous Rumours
Jesus and Mary Chain – April Skies
Bauhaus – Dark Entries
William Shatner – Common People
The Pogues – A Pair Of Brown Eyes
Johnny Cash – Rusty Cage
Buddy Holly – That’ll Be The Day
Link Wray – Rumble
Ian Dury – What A Waste
Leonard Cohen – The Future

Outro: Spectra*Paris – Stille Nacht

Alternative Bring’n’Buy Sale – December 2017

DJ Setlist

The December edition of the ABBS was hit by snow on the morning of the event, but despite a thinner crowd than normal, we still carried on as usual.  Scott handled the early part of the DJ, whilst DJs Grimorg and Demondaz played later on.  This left me with:

12 noon-1pm – Lunchtime Selection

On this occasion, a good old mix-of-all-sorts-of-stuff.

John Carpenter – Assault on Precinct 13 (Main Theme)
Rick Wakeman – Catherine Of Aragon
Hans Zimmer – Rain Man Theme
Freudstein – Live This Lies
VCMG – Lowly
Ascii.Disko – Strassen
Potentia Animi – Vive La More
Eminence Of Darkness – Pet
Frozen Autumn – Ashes
Beborn Beton – Another World
Psy’Aviah – Infected
Obszon Geschopf – Rue Morgue Creature
Out Out – E&E
Acumen (Nation) – Anchorite
Unheilig – Herz Aus Eis (played with great irony…..)

3pm – Shoegaze, Alt Rock and Crossover Dance

I’d agreed with Scott that we’d try a role-reversal set today – he played EBM and industrial, and I played the things he normally did.

Tricky – Overcome
Zola Jesus – Manifest Destiny
Bat For Lashes – In God’s House
Cranes – Can’t Get Free
My Bloody Valentine – Only Shallow
Slowdive – Sleep
Ride – Vapour Trail
Jesus and Mary Chain – Just Like Honey
Chapterhouse – Falling Down
Lush – Ladykillers
Sonic Youth – Kool Thing
Pixies – Debaser
Smashing Pumpkins – Zero
Garbage – When I Grow Up
Primal Scream – Rocks
Fatboy Slim – Right Here, Right Now
Shamen – Phorever People

And then handed over to Demondaz to finish off here whilst we were over the road….