April 8th , 2008

Advert...

No mixes or any other music type stuff on the horizon at the moment - I've not got the inclination to do anything, I'm afraid. However, two things to bring to your attention:

1: I appear to have developed a 'Facebook' page. I'm not sure how, but it seemed to create itself so I thought I'd better put some info in it. I don't really understand the point of it all, I've already got the MySpace thing which is depressing enough, but you might want to visit it if you're into all that 'social networking' bollocks. Your choice. It's here: Arsebook page.

2: Those familiar with Radio Soundhog 6 may remember a glamtastic section near the end, pitting South Wales rock/punk legends Flyscreen with well known '70s heartthrob and babysitter Gary Glitter. Well, for the first time ever, a band has seen fit to embrace my messings into their official catalogue. Therefore, on Flyscreen's new career spanning retrospective CD "Home Taping Is Killing Music", you'll find a new version of Popsong Singalong vs Rock & Roll Part 2.

The CD is available in a nicely packaged, limited and numbered edition from the Flyscreen Website for a tenner, and they have a MySpace as well. I'm sure some of you out there do still buy the occasional CD, and thus actually support artists once in a while... don't ya?

February 15th , 2008

Mix90 #4? But I thought you said a couple of days ago...

Yes, I know what I wrote, "Mix90 is taking a rest for a few weeks..." Well I don't know if it's the immense amounts of sweeties I've been eating, but a sudden burst of energy gave birth to Mix90 #4 in a very short amount of time. If I was sensible, I'd hang onto it until next month at least, spread the stuff out a bit and all that. However, I'm the sort of person who could very rarely be described as "sensible". *

So, Mix90 #4. 90 minutes of music that could be tarred with the "psychedelic" paintbrush in some way, whilst avoiding the abundance of crappy, noodly arse that's been dug up and reissued by various chancers over the last 20 years since the good stuff ran out. It's a broad church as far as I'm concerned, with room for early '60s tape experimentation, proto-Krautrock from 1970, floppy-fringed effects pedal terrorists from 1990s Oxford, future '70s disco-sensations early work and lots more. All of it is unequivocally brilliant (as far as I'm concerned, anyway, and it's my mix so what I say goes, right? Right.)

Click "The Broadcast Sessions" on the music pa...oh, you've already done it. Fine.

* If I was, I wouldn't be sitting here, spending all my time on stuff that gets given away for nothing on the internet. If I was "sensible", I'd be out finding a proper job that pays actual cash money or something, rather than fritter away what remains of my bank account chasing dreams that buggered off in disgust three years ago. It's a good job I don't mind the taste of cheap fizzy drinks and own-brand biscuits. Anyway...

February 11th , 2008

Funk625 mix ...

Mix90 is taking a rest for a few weeks, but there should be another one crammed full of psychedelic fabness fairly soon. In the meantime, here's something a bit different - nearly an hour's worth of 'funky' (a word which has been so misused over the past 10 years it sets my teeth on edge, but I can't think of a better one at the moment) stuff. Mostly instrumental, mostly '68-'74, some singing, some in Hungarian, some in Icelandic, some stuff from the past two years or so, some electronic, some library weirdness, most of it well known, some of it a bit obscure, all of it bloody great. No flashy mixing, bashed down 'as live', but some of 'em do seem to fit very well together.

Yet again, to access the bounty, click here> "The Broadcast Sessions". Or the link to the same thing on the music page, just in case you want to see what else is there before committing yourself to anything in particular. Hey, it's a free country, isn't it?

(note: I may not be talking about the country you reside in, it's just a saying. I hope I've not just offended anyone living under some horrible dictatorship. Like the UK. Did you see what I did there? It's teh satires!!!)

December 25th , 2007

Mix90 #3 now available ...

Good gravy, I've only gone and done Mix90 number three! Well, I detest the 'festive season' so I needed something to keep my mind off it all. You're all very quiet out there. Is anyone listening to this shit anymore? Hello?

You should know the form by now, 90 minutes of music split right down the middle, just like in the good old days. No timestretching or warping is involved, the trick is to choose tunes that work well next to each other - a simple concept that seems beyond many people's grasp. Idiots. There's everything from Hammond led R&B to '70s TV interval music, with a 15 minute section of absolute heaviness at the start of side two. And 'Rod, Matt and Jane'.

Click "The Broadcast Sessions" on the music page. Or the link that you've just read, a nanosecond ago... this site's starting to fall to bits already...

November 21st , 2007

Mix90 #2 uploaded ...

Yeah, I got bored already. But I forced myself. I'm so good to you lot.

The second installment in the Mix90 series is done and up. Another two 45 minute slabs of the sort of stuff that turns my musical crank. You're just one click away from finding out what's on it, so there's no point in me typing it all out here, is there? Whatever it is, it's bound to be good or I wouldn't have chosen it in the first place, would I? Eh?

Click "The Broadcast Sessions" on the music page, just like last time.

In other news, here's an example of just how rude I can be when discussing my past life in bootlegs... I can't quite believe Jon Nelson put it up, but he did and it's right here:

Some Assembly Required blog ...

Actually, I was quite restrained, on reading it back... You should hear the potty-mouthed stuff I come out with in private...

And thirdly (yes, thirdly!)... my mate Sean has put up the collected fruits of his band ex-rental up on his website, as a free to download album. It contains tracks spanning 1999 to 2007, and there are many lo-fi (if that's still an acceptable term) synth-pop gems on it. There's also the first remix I ever did for anybody, way back in 2002 (I think it was 2002, anyway) of 'Sophie's Audition'. Obviously I wouldn't do it like that now, but it may be worthy of your time. And if not, the rest of the album certainly is.

That website again: www.ex-rental.com

October 30th , 2007

More Broadcast Sessions uploaded ...

It's quite scary, but I've almost kept my promise of uploading stuff "every couple of weeks". I didn't record last night's live mixathon (which is a shame as it was really good in parts...) but no matter.

Presenting for your delight and consumption, the first in the Mix90 series. As you might have gathered from the title, it's a 90 minute long mix of tunes, split right down the middle so you can record it to tape in the proper fashion. Don't expect any intricate beat cutting, bastard popping or dance music maelstroms - this is a sequed mix to be listened to and enjoyed (I hope), as it features some of the music I really like. Maybe you'll really like some of it too. I hope so. Let me know.

Click "The Broadcast Sessions" on the music page and follow your nose.

October 16th , 2007

New content alert ...

Seeing as how a proper new Radio Soundhog mix is still a long way off (possibly never to come), my DJing 'career' is on the buffers and pissing diesel all over the place, and m*shups and bootlegs can F*CK RIGHT OFF, I think a backup plan is in order.

Enter "The Broadcast Sessions".

Week by week (hopefully), this collection of 'live' mixtapes will build into a formidable arsenal of background listening material for when you're mending the shed or doing the ironing. I will sometimes enlist the help of friends. I may even talk on some of them. We'll see. The first installment, featuring a 100 minute ping-pong DJing sesh with my mate Tonybear, is up now. Clicky here.

(I suppose some people would call this a 'podcast', but I hate the term nearly as much as I hate the term 'm*shup'. It's hard being so stubborn sometimes, but someone's got to do it.)

October 2nd , 2007

It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you ...

...without a load of novelty fluff to step to.

I've relented, and given my alter-alter-ego his own webpage again. Clicking the graphic below will take you to his hide-out. Here you can sample the delights of Machadaynu, *those* 'Marshall' tracks, Stuart Hall getting busy with Herb Alpert, and a new tune which makes Wisbey's "The Ladies Bras" even more infuriating. We dare you to enter the mysterious world of...

(By the way, if anyone has got a properly working, UK-spec, 6581-equipped C64 with a decent power supply that they'd like to sell to me for something approaching a sensible price, do get in touch. I might also be interested in a similarly working 1541 drive and a microswitched autofire Competition Pro joystick. One of the clear ones would be nice...) UPDATE: C64, PSU and C2N acquired (thanks Paul) - joystick still sought!

August 14th , 2007

Well, it could have happened ...

A couple of years ago, I did an oddball remix of a very oddball song. It proved quite popular. There was talk of releasing it commercially. It could have been a No.1. It never happened. But just imagine... imagine...

August 7th , 2007

Just a quick note - I'm no longer checking the old "soundhog.org.uk" email account, as I cannot be bothered ploughing through the junk mail to find the occasional legitimate message. If you want to get in touch for any reason, use the email address which is printed over there, on the left...

...not that anyone actually does email me these days, of course.

August 4th , 2007

There is still absolutely nothing happening in the world of Soundhog ...

Well, not 100% true - I'm still breathing and that, but... anyway, someone sent me this the other day. A TV broadcast of a rock & roll dance troupe from Croatia (I think), taking part in a world championship event, dancing to a modified version of... well... you'll hear.

Not only that, someone's uploaded the old Q-Mix video for my version of Liberty X/Rich X's 'Being Nobody'. I believe this is still shown on music channel 'The Hits' quite a lot, amongst a truckload of other m*sh-up shite, but it's nice to see the original Q graphics on this. Early 2003, I think this is from...

June 28th , 2007

There is absolutely nothing happening in the world of Soundhog ...

So, I'll plug the Tauchsieder album again. 'Louder' is available on Costly Disc from loads of places, both online and in the real world... it features Stuart Maclean, Innes Smith, Richard X, Tom Ellard (Severed Heads), J.D. Twitch (Optimo [espacio]) and Colin Newman (Wire/Githead). Oh, and me. It's also bloody good. Well worth approximately a tenner of your money and 74 minutes of your life. You will also find on the Tauchsieder website an unbelievably intricate and painstakingly produced visual accompaniment to the track 'Herd The Shadows', by the over-talented Konx-Om-Pax. Shame it looks like the project's already done and dusted without so much as a whiff of exposure or interest, but I've come to expect things like this.

If you're hoping to locate it in one of our wonderful high-street music retailers, you should be looking for something like this:

Note the fact that the price sticker totally obscures the artist and title, which we positioned top right of the artwork. Yeah... idiots... we know. Mind you, the stickering process does occasionally redeem itself...

(Thanks to Dave Harper for the photos.)

Or you could go to the Juno site where it's on sale for almost fuck-all. Now I know how Tintern Abbey must have felt in 1967.

Oh yes, and Microfilm's 2CD set After Dark/Blueprints is available to buy and well, which includes my (very long) remix of 'Inhibitions' along with a shed-load more of top-notch originals and remixes. The Monologic remix of 'Versus' is especially fucking ace. Here's a link to their site.

Nothing else to report, I'm afraid... Does anyone want to offer me a DJ slot where I can play psych, kraut and general odd shit to people with functioning ears and a decent sense of taste? Thought not... that's DJing done for the time being, then.

March 15th , 2007

DJing appointment in London ...

'Bastard 106'
Saturday 17th March
The Macbeth, 70 Hoxton Street, London N1 6LP.

That is all. This could be the last time. Maybe the last time. I don't know, but there's a very good chance.

March 11th , 2007

Something that isn't (very) old? Fucking hellfire...

Unofficial. Who'da thunkit? One of the more immediate tracks off the new album by LCD Soundsystem (which is very good, IMHO) done-over by moi. It's been kicking around my hard disk for at least a month, so I thought what with the album coming out I'd throw it into the deluge of good/dull/unlistenable/shit 'personal reworkings' and see if it manages to keep its poor head above the scum line.

It's in the music section. Near the bottom. It's very loud. Grab it while you can, should you give a toss...

February 15th , 2007

Happy Day-After-Valentine's Day ...

As such, here's a gift. Of sorts.

I've finally got together a load of my early works, after saying I would for... ooh... a long time now. It spans the period from the start of 2002 to the end of 2004, which is when I pretty much gave up doing "bootleg tracks". Most of it has been hard to get hold of for ages, and the quality of most of the files is better than the previous ones 'out there' (although some stuff had to be taken from poorer quality sources, so...)

They all come in a big .zip file. Take heed of my usual warning and USE SOME KIND OF DOWNLOAD MANAGER! If you don't, you'll probably end up trying seven times to download the complete file and then give up. Save your time and my bandwidth, do it once. If I could stop the server from messing up then I would, but I can't.

Go to the music section, scroll down to the bottom of the page. "Historia De La Musica Rock". There it is. Hope you enjoy some of it, if not all. Remember, it was relevant back then... ish.