Bjork-Radio 1 Dj Set

I have no idea where this Dj set from Bjork comes from,other than it was broadcast on Radio 1 some time ago.Us usual,recorded to cassette and then cleaned up and transferred to mp3 via Goldwave.
I don’t remember which show it was featured on,i don’t remember her doing an Essential Mix,although i could be wrong,i suspect its from the Beebs Glasto coverage,although,from what year i can’t say.
It’s pretty odd,although being from Bjork it would kind of have to be wouldn’t it!
Give it a listen,it’s fairly downtempo stuff.

Roni Size/Reprazent-Live @ Maida Vale

Back to the old tape vaults with this performance from the mighty Roni Size.This is from the BBC Maida Vale Studios.Broadcast by Radio 1,and as im sure you know by now,transferred to mp3 and tidied up with Goldwave.
This is from round about the time they first headlined at Glastonbury,much like that Glasto performance the band are on fire here too.Sometimes im not very fond of mc’s,but Dynamite Mc is one of my faves as he knows when to stfu!.’Brown Paper Bag‘ is a highlight,with the interplay between Dynamite Mc ,and the remarkable voice of Onallee ,makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Transglobal Underground-Live

Latest in a line of posts featuring dodgy quality live sets,next up is the wonderful Transglobal Underground.TGU are a weird amalgamation of Dub,African and Oriental styles.They usually get pidgeonholed as ‘World Fusion’ or some such,ive heard ‘Ethno-Techno’ mentioned in the same breath too.
I have no firm idea where this recording is from,probably Glastonbury,it’s probably after 1994 as ‘International Times’ is in the set and thats the title track from the album they released that year.Again,this has been recorded onto cassette from Radio 1,transferred and cleaned up with Goldwave.Listenable,not perfect.
TGU are one of those bands that occupy a niche that is almost their own,they only act to come anywhere near them is probably Banco De Gaia
If this cracking live set tickles your fancy,then the first two albums are well worth your cash
Dream Of 100 Nations
International Times

Shlomo-All Mouth

I first ran across Shlomo when he appeared on Jools Hollands show,where he did a remarkable,if short display of Beatboxing

Here he is on The Beeb’s Glastonbury footage,layering sounds up on a loop sampler

much like Robert Fripp’s,’Frippertronics technique,which in itself is an emulation of a much older technique employed by guitarist and guitar designer Les Paul

Orbital-Live @ Glastonbury 1994

The breakthrough gig for Orbital came when they played Glastonbury in 1994,oh how i would have loved to have been there!
This recording of part of that set has been through the wars,recorded onto cassette from Radio 1,at the time of original broadcast and played to death for maybe 7 years,the tape began to seriously degrade,there are several dropouts,and sound fluctuations aplenty.I stopped playing the tape around 6 or 7 years ago,until i could have it transferred to mp3 via Goldwave.Then i removed the tape hiss and balanced out the dropouts as best i could.The result is listenable but far from perfect.
Orbital,like Daft Punk,essentially take their studio on tour and play improvised sets,mixing in samples and sequences on the fly.A superb live act,i have been lucky enough to see them play several times,including one of their final shows at Glastonbury 2004,which forms part of the live Glasto shows on the Glastonbury 1994-2004 cd and dvd.

The Sneaker Pimps-Live @ Glastonbury

Another from the old tape vault,this time from The Sneaker Pimps,the set which you can download here is from Glastonbury,i’m unsure of an exact date but their first album,Becoming X ,was released in 1996 if memory serves,so it’s probably safe to assume it’s from sometime around then.When i think about it,i’m pretty sure it was ‘96,as i think that was when we tried to see them at the most soulless of all festivals,T-In-The-Park.The tent they were playing in was quite literally bulging at the seams,so we had to be content with sunning ourselves outside the tent for the duration of their set.
This is when Kelli Ali was still in the band,she is one of those people who don’t look anything like what they sound like,..don’t you think?

The Orb-Live @ Glastonbury

Surely Ambient Housemasters The Orb need no introduction.
Download a live set recorded at Glastonbury.It’s from the mid nineties,i can’t be more specific than that,recorded and broadcast by Radio 1,recorded to cassette and transferred/tape hiss removed with Goldwave.I think theres even a snippet of the late great John Peel at the end,as he used to handle much of Radio 1’s Glastonbury coverage in those days.
I have seen The Orb maybe 6 or 7 times,each time they have been superb.I first saw them supporting Gary Clail’s On-U Soundsystem back in 1991,the last time was last year at The Wickerman Festival,where despite splitting their set for the burning of The Wickerman itself,still managed to pull off a superb performance,still worth seeing,do it if you ever get the chance.

Banco De Gaia-Live At Glastonbury

Banco De Gaia AKA,Toby Marks began his musical career in the seventies,he learned to play guitar very early and by the age of 14 was in a heavy metal band.After a move to Portugal,he found himself playing cover songs for tourists.In the late eighties,he became interested in House/dance music which was in a very embryonic stage,bought himself a sampler and started on what would become a quite remarkable musical journey.
Unlike almost all his contempories,his take on electronic dance music was deeply layered and textured,Often featuring tribal rhythms with strong Arabic vocals and/or Middle Eastern samples,with a deep,driving bass.Reputedly the decision to do this was inspired,in part by hearing the Eric B and Rakim song ‘Paid In Full’,which features the vocals of the sadly deceased Ofra Haza.
The Banco De Gaia sound is a bit like Orbital,but not so clinical,a bit like The Orb,but dancier,the closest in vibe is probably Transglobal Underground,he’s usually classified as Ambient Dub or sometimes Tribal House,but neither really does him justice.
After releasing three cassette only albums,Banco De Gaia began a long association with the Megadog crew,playing live at many of their events alongside other doggy acts like Eat Static,Astralasia and The Drum Club.After the release of two well received albums for Planet Dog records,he released the seminal album,’Live At Glastonbury’ in 1996.
The Live at Glastonbury album was recorded at The Avalon Stage,on june 24th 1995,apparently without Marks knowing it at the time.Its a mixture of tracks from his two previous releases,’Last Train To Lhasa’ and some older tracks from ‘Maya’.A lot of credit to how good this album is,must go to the very vocal and well up for it crowd,who are clearly getting as much from the performance as Marks is getting from their enjoyment.
Everything kicks off with some Tibetan chanting,the crowd get teased with snippets of percussion and samples weaving in and out for a good few minutes,building up a palpable tension,which explodes into a frenzy of cheering as ‘Last Train To Lhasa’ finally kicks in.All aboard,tickets please!If you are familiar with Banco De Gaia’s music,what follows is like a succession of old friends dropping by,only they have changed a little since you saw them last,they have new things to say.
‘Mafich Arabi’ is jaw dropping ,then follows a remarkably untouched ‘Amber’,a breakbeat has been discovered lurking within the lofty ‘White Paint‘,new vocals in ‘Kinkajou’ drop in and out.The crowd by this point are loving it,the long chanting build to ‘Kuos’ provokes them into another frenzy of shouts and cheers,then they get treated to a superb version of ‘887′,despite being the only track on the album that has been edited due to copyright reasons,although truth be told,it’s barely noticable.The set ends to rapturous applause and for an encore,a mad Redwood mix style version of ‘Heliopolis’ then the crowds whistle as the regal opening bars of ‘Data Inadequate’ roll out,when the beat drops its like a big wave of good-time party vibes.The whole album sparkles with a ferocious energy that is evocative of the energy of the early Acid House records,i suspect that much of this as said before is down to the crowd,theres a note on the sleeve that reads,”we have tried to capture the spirit of the occasion rather than achieve technical perfection” well and truly captured i would say.
In fact,The Guardian reported “there was one act — and above all, perhaps, one single moment — which somehow epitomises the reason why one feels Glastonbury could last another quarter-century yet… The packed crowd in and beyond ‘A’ marquee on the Avalon Field burst suddenly into a semi-devotional chant at a climatic moment during the set of the weekend: that by Banco de Gaia“
Go and buy it it’s an excellent intro to the music of Banco De Gaia.Or listen to some of his material here.