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I revived an old music blog from the early 2000s?

Maybe it’s been a foolish endeavor, and maybe I’m the only one who misses the blog ol’ days, but I’ve been giving it a shot. I’ve been working on restoring some of the old content, though much of it was lost. I’ve slowly been rebuilding the old remix sunday archives, and even posting the occasional new edition. And I’ve been writing again.

You can find all the label’s releases here, on bandcamp, or most anywhere you listen to music these days. I’ve still got copies of some of the old vinyl releases, and I recently released the first in a set of charitable cassette compilations to raise awareness about the continued [mis]use of broken windows policing methods.

Plus, I put together a playlists section with a handful of spotify lists that hopefully start to capture a [slightly] updated version of the moods we used to peddle. Give those a listen and a ❤ if you would be so kind. If you want to get in touch, just give me a holler. Oh, and if you prefer to just start playing all the music on this page before reading any further, go ahead and click ▶︎

– Haldan/Boody

  • From the Mailbox 73

    DMG – Live the Dream

    Skittering glitchy rave from Daniel McGurty, aka DMG, now based in Edinburgh but a native of Blackburn. McGurty is painting with a delicate brush here, sketching around an absence of overt dancefloor kick/bass spine, but these two tracks from his upcoming album Live the Dream nonetheless evoke plenty of nostalgia for UK hardcore and rave. Blackburn was the epicenter of illegal raving in the UK in the late 80s and early 90s. Kids making great use of all the abandoned mills and factories that followed Thatcher’s hollowing-out of the industrial core of Northern English society is the perfect historic encapsulation of how and why raving was birthed as a response to economic insecurity and the chaotic approach of a post-industrial world. That large-scale raving has now become hijacked by tertiary and quinary sector corporate interests — a product to be delivered by hospitality and media companies, owned by the very sorts of global capital firms that pulled the plug on Western manufacturing in the first place — is ironic, or at least paradoxical. But where stadium-sized, glossy, befeathered spectacles are not much more than parody — and the music designed for them tends to be too — McGurty is instead paying sincere and affectionate homage to the history of his community here, without doing something retro. The album is out July 23rd, but you can grab the first two singles on bandcamp now (or find them for streaming)

    DMG – “Live the Dream”
    DMG – “The Rebirth Continues”

    Self Tape – London Baby

    In keeping with loving tributes to UK dance music culture, next up is a romantic ode to late nights in London by Sydney’s Self Tape (Stuart McNair), whose music I’ve featured a couple of times previously. As has been my experience with all of McNair’s music, he manages to coax something atypical out of all of his songs, many of which at first blush could appear to be straightforward emotional dance music or “cry music” as I’ve increasingly seen that sort of thing described (who thought of that term? it’s not good). Much of this sort of emotional house stuff really doesn’t ask much of the listener — four to the floor with some shuffle and a nice sentimental chord progression can take you pretty far, and I’m not totally against picking that kind of low-hanging fruit sometimes; it’s fair enough. But McNair manages to consistently take an initial simple idea like that, and stretch it a bit further, whether through surprising sound design, unexpected arrangement, or some kind of calculated risk. He’s a step above a lot of the folks pulling these easy wins. No bandcamp for this, unfortunately, but McNair was nice enough to let me post the mp3 for you all here. You can find the release streaming at all the usual spots.

    Self Tape – “London Baby”

    Heitech & LUI – Rise with the Lark

    Last up tonight, a quirky, psychedelic bit of 2-step, honoring the impressive songflights of the lark. Male larks spiral high into the air — sometimes hundreds of feet — singing continuously for minutes to mark their territory and attract potential mates. We should all be so dilligent in our dedication to our musical craft. This is from Heitech (Hamburg-based Heiko Bader), along with LUI (Marcus Lowtrap, also from Germany). While it’s tongue-in-cheek, it’s also totally satisfying stuff, blending sugary synth work and pleasantly distorted rhythm with weird new age jazz and self-help music. Can’t be too mad at that. Not to mention, the b-side of this honors the most famous bird in dance music history, the loon. Grab these on bandcamp or find them for streaming.

    Heitech & LUI – “Rise with the Lark”
    Heitech & LUI – “Dawn by the Loon”

  • From the Mailbox 67

    Anna Lysis & F. Sonore – Smashed Sweetness

    Isn’t it nice that we’ve gotten away from that 90s and 2000s thing where anyone singing in English would put on an American accent? Part of what makes the vocals so nice in this track by French artists Anna Lysis & F. Sonore is how much Lysis’s French accent comes through in her delivery — and not in the ironic or too-cool-for-school way often heard in mid-naughties French electro. Lysis’s lyrics and delivery are earnest — naive almost — sailing, self-assured, and natural. Atop propulsive drums and loosely layered plucked instruments coproduced with F. Sonore, the whole song has this great unencumbered quality to it; the two aren’t concerned with precision and perfection here– it’s just about wide-eyed fun. This is from Lysis’s recent EP, Blossom, which is out now on the streamers. No bandcamp, unfortunately, but she was kind enough to let me post the mp3 for you here.

    Anna Lysis & F. Sonore – “Smashed Sweetness”

    Syncia x Cash Only x Eljé – Something Something

    Next up is a collaboration between producers Syncia and Cash Only, with vocals from Eljé — all three from the UK. There really isn’t much I can say about this–it’s perfectly crafted main room dance music. It’s house music, I guess, in the way that smoothing out all the edges of UKG turns it back into the house music it was always rooted in, but this is a track where subgenre discussion is really pointless. Eljé’s vocals are as radio-ready as anything and a killer earworm; the bass is round enough at the top and bottom to work just as well in the cab on the way to the club as it will on the dancefloor. Just an undeniable winner here. No bandcamp unfortunately, but you can find this for streaming at all the usual outlets.

    Syncia x Cash Only x Eljé – “Something Something”

    Self Tape – Feelings In The Way

    Last up tonight is a lovely track from Sydney-based Self Tape (Stuart McNair), whose music I covered a couple of years ago. This is the first single from his upcoming sophomore album. I said something similar last time I wrote about him, but in a rising sea of so-called emotional club producers, McNair manages to float to the surface. It’s not just that the music is well executed — these days so much mediocre music is actually really well produced — it’s that McNair has a knack for drawing out real character from otherwise pretty in-your-face sounds. Specifically, the bass and lead sounds here are not particularly gentle or warm in and of themselves, but he gets them to hum and purr in a way that really soothes the nerves– and without numbing them out with syrup. It’s an excellent trick, and he’s been able to repeat it, so I expect the album will be something special. No bandcamp for this one either, I’m afraid (that’s 0 for 3 tonight), but McNair was generous enough to let me post the mp3 below. You can find the release at all the usual spots here.

    Self Tape – “Feelings In The Way”

  • From the Mailbox 9

    Cosmic Rain – Oblivion

    Appropriately dark and somber post-dubstep from Ukrainian artist Cosmic Rain. Despite the atrocities of the more recent war in Palestine, the West needs to be careful not to lose sight of the extent of the bloodletting continuing in Ukraine. Only yesterday, Russia unleashed a massive missile strike on Kyiv and targeting energy infrastructure in other cities nearer the front. This war is not over, nor is it evenly fought, and at the very least we need to remember that—even as Western governments’ financial support for Ukraine falters. No bandcamp for Cosmic Rain, but you can stream this song all over, and he’s offered the mp3 for free download below.

    Cosmic Rain – “Oblivion” (mp3)

    Voicheck – Kuramoto

    Swiss artist Voicheck sent over this strange and lovely bit from their recent EP Atlatl, which intends to explore pre-historic themes through esoteric textural sound design and atypical rhythms. I recommend the whole record, it’s weird in the good way; a painless mind-bender. Unfortunately no bandcamp for some reason, but you can find the EP on any of the streamers, or listen to it on soundcloud.

    Voicheck – “Kuramoto” (sc)

    Self Tape – Promise (Sun)

    This last track, sent over by Sydney-based artist Self Tape, is nicely misdirectional. As it starts, it would have you believe it might well be lost in the growing flood of Fred Again and Bicep ripoff music, much of which is well produced but increasingly anonymous. But when the bassline drops, it’s clear Self Tape is willing to take some sonic risks—the bassline is distorted in such a way that it almost causes it to fall out of phase, but not quiiiite. The song ends up sitting precariously on the edge of sonoral disaster for the rest of its runtime, and that insecurity makes it way more interesting as a listener. I just wonder whether it works on a Funktion One, or if it might make people ill. DJs out there who want to find out, grab it on bandcamp. Others can find it for streaming wherever.

    Self Tape – “Promise (Sun)” (sc)