The final radio show counting down to my 50th birthday. This month we tackle 2015 to 2024. Intriguingly, I think its easily the best mix of the series. Tracklist below player
Big Blood – Planet Caravan The Unthanks – Magpie Black Market with Mired & Wise Owl – The Hitchhiker Equinoxx – Last of the Mohicans Dean Hurley – Electricity II Daniel O’ Sullivan – The Pendulum Blanck Mass – Chernobyl All Them Witches – Hares on The Mountain Sharron Kraus – Man Who Says Goodbye Astral Social Club & Grumbling Fur Time Machine Orchestra – Ozone Antifreeze Intelligence Six Organs of Admittance – Drunk And Lost In Heaven Lankum – Bear Creek Jacaszek – November Late Black Market // Chundan – Phantasm dub (Black Market remix) Einar Selvik – Drenglynda Skáldið (Skaldic version) Teleplasmiste – An Unexpected Visit XIXA – Tombstone Rashomon Knight of the Round – Opening/Bombing Mission Mr. Bungle – Anarchy Up Your Anus MOTHERMARY – Catch Fire Green Lung – Graveyard Sun Warrington-Runcorn New Town development Plan – Built By Robots Sunburned Hand of the Man – Flex Wau Wau Collectif – Legui Legui Heilung – Anoana Earth – Angels (The Bug remix feat. Flowdan) Forest Swords – Caged Dunza – Another Life John Carpenter – Chariots of Pumpkins Michael Begg – Ronne Ice Shelf II Craven Faults – Long Stoop Meg Baird – Willow’s Song
Astral Social Club – ASC #2 Track 3 Andrew Liles – The Milky Way seen through the Cripple’s Telescope Belbury Poly – A Thin Place Coil – Fire of the Mind Songs of Green Pheasant – Nightfall (for Boris P.) Six Organs of Admittance – Eighth Cognition / All You’ve Left Max Richter – Harmonium Meg Baird, Helena Espvall, Sharron Kraus – John Hardy Hush Arbors – Nine Bones Belbury Poly – Pan’s Garden SUNN O))) & Boris – Etna Ulver – Eos Acid Mothers SWR – Mastering Master Builder Ben Frost – Theory of Machines Cardiacs – Ditzy Scene Kyle Gabber – The Goo Filled Hills Grouper – Heavy Water/I’d Rather Be Sleeping Les Discrets – Apres l’Ombre The Myrrors – Burning Circles In The Sky Natural Snow Buildings – Snowbringer Cult Wood-Land – Rippling Through Time Shigeto – Relentless Drag 20 Guilders – Trembling Voice, Sinking Room Richard Youngs & Simon Wickham-Smith – Lament for North Weald and Ongar Art Error Ist – The Drummer Is On Valium Bjork – Mutual Core (These New Puritans remix featuring Solomon Island Song) Zola Jesus – In Your Nature (David Lynch Remix) Killing Joke – Money Is Not Our God (Babylon Mix) Lankum – Drinking Song From The Tomb Divil A’ Bit – Do As The Ghost Bids Ye Father Murphy – A Purpose The Bug feat. Liz Harris – Black Wasp
For the November radio show, I mixed sequentially my favorite sounds from 1995 to 2004.
Fila Brazillia – A Zed and Two L’s Brion Gysin – Kick That Habit Man Massive Attack Vs Mad Professor – Radiation Ruling The Nation Scanner – Pudenda Michael Gira – Blind Cathedral – Vampire Sun Mr. Bungle – Merry Go Bye Bye Cardiacs – Wireless Thievery Corporation – Shaolin Satellite Sepultura – Ratamahatta Coil – Lost Rivers Of London Spiritualized – Ladies And Gentleman We Are Floating In Space Primal Scream – Wise Blood Bjork – All Is Full Of Love (Secondotted By Funksorung) Sunburned Hand Of The Man – The If With The Golden Qualm Mousse T. Vs Hot ‘n’ Juicy – Horny (A Capella) Innerzone Orchestra – Bug In The Bassbin The Roots feat. Erykah Badu – You Got Me Calexico – Ballad Of Cable Hogue Hiss Golden Messenger – I’ve Got A Name For The Newborn Child Makoto Kawabata / Richard Youngs – Blue Fantomas – Spider Baby Kylie Minogue – Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (Soulwax Elektronic Remix) Fridge – Ark Jonny Trunk – Don Male David Byrne – The Great Western Road Leviathan – Blood And Thunder
The October radio show is now available to listen to again on Mixcloud, so here is the tracklist:
Laibach – Cari Amici Soldati Kate Bush – Running Up The Hill (A Deal With God) Killing Joke – Love Like Blood (Gestalt Mix) Prince – She’s Always In My Hair Current 93 – KillyKillKilly (A Fire Sermon) Revolting Cocks – No Devotion High Rise – Turn You Cry The Chills – Pink Frost Public Enemy – She Watch Channel Zero?! New Order – Round And Round The KLF – 3 A.M. Eternal (Break For Love) Angelo Badalamenti – Audrey’s Dance (Instrumental) The Heart Throbs – She’s In A Trance Will – Crowning Glory A Tribe Called Quest – Scenario Sleep – The Druid Spectrum – The Drunk Suite Main – Time Over [Dub] Iron Maiden – Fear Of The Dark (live) Spiritualized – Smiles (live) The Sabres of Paradise – Smokebelch II (Beatless Mix) KK Null & Jim Plotkin – Lost (Held Under) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Nobody’s Baby Now The Sabres of Paradise – Tow Truck Material – Words of Advice
Looking down the barrel of being fifty years old, I’ve decided to do a themed set of radio shows. Each one will cover 10 years of my life through the music of the time, in chronological order but mixed. The final show will go out a couple of days after my 50th birthday
Here’s the track list:
Malcolm Clarke – BBC2 Serial Black Sabbath – Hole In The Sky Brian Hodgson – Cathedral of Space Nuevo Mexico – Dreams Embyro – New Ridin’ Eroc – Chaotic Reaction Can – Smoke (E.F.S. No.59) Harmonia – Notre Dame Neu! – Hero Popol Vuh – Letzte Tage Letze Nachte Dorothy Carter – Ukrainian Carol The Upsetters – Zion’s Blood Peter Howell – The Astronauts The Clash – I’m So Bored With The U.S.A. Goblin – Suspiria Les Rallizes Denudes – Reapers of the Night Iggy Pop – Funtime Suicide – Rocket U.S.A. Fela Kuti – I Go Shout Plenty!!! L’Orchestre Kanage De Mopti – Sorry Bamba The Only Ones – Another Girl, Another Planet Philippe D’Aram – Fascination This Heat – 24 Track Loop Nurse With Wound – Two Mock Projections Public Image Ltd – Memories John Carptenter – Theme from the Fog Einsturzende Neubauten – Steh auf Berlin Siouxsie & The Banshees – Spellbound Front 242 – Kampfbereit The Cure – Play For Today Holger Czukay – Cool In The Pool Talking Heads – Once In A Lifetime New Order – Your Silent Face Butthole Surfers – Cherub Jah Shaka meets Mad Professor – Claps Like Thunder Cardiacs – To Go Off And Things
I woke up to the awful news that Damo Suzuki is no longer with us.
Forgive a guy for a rambling, half-awake tribute but he was someone who touched a lot of lives.
Obviously, there is the cultural sense. Although he was very humble about his contributions to Can as their front man from 1970 to 1973, its a quantifiable fact that they were a different band when he was in them. Not that they didn’t still make great music after he left or before he joined, but the chemistry was extra special. Like he wasn’t just the singer, he was a catalyst.
Another undisputable fact is the wide-ranging influence of those 3.5 albums he made with Can back then. They pollinated ideas and were generously borrowed everywhere from hip-hop to techno, from indie rock to contemporary classical music. I could write paragraphs and paragraphs on it with a directory of examples.
However, far beyond the cultural force for change, Damo touched people’s lives for a much simpler reason. He was kind, generous and incredibly sweet. When he returned to music, he set out on a mission to travel the world with his microphone and to play every show with a new set of local musicians in the places he played. One of those ideas whose simplicity was equal to its genius.
He was someone who loved to meet people and though most of us were initially a bit star-struck and overwhelmed, his humility and his big-heartedness soon put you at ease. Not to mention his gentle, cheeky sense of humour. As a promoter, the first show I ever organized was Damo Suzuki at the old Parish Pump [I think it was temporarily renamed The Cornerhouse at the time] with an entirely local group of musicians. This was Friday 27th January 2006.
I put him on five times in all, twice in Huddersfield, three times in Hebden Bridge. He loved Hebden Bridge. The first time he played there was also the time his significant other Elke had decided to join him for a tour. We all sat up all night on cushions in my conservatory with the door open – drinking, smoking, chatting, laughing and listening to CDs.
Damo had asked me for advice on places to visit with Elke on their days off earlier in the tour and I’d said for Northern England the essentials were Whitby and the Lake District. I was so glad they’d taken my advice and I think that definitely gave me some kudos. We all warmed immediatley to Elke. She was funny, sweet and such a bright light. Exactly the sort of person you would expect Damo to share his life with. I can’t even imagine how she’s feeling now and send all my love to her.
There’s something that I don’t think other tributes to Damo are mentioning, though if you subscribed to his newsletter, you’ll know where I’m going with this. Once he came to visit us in Hebden Bridge on some off days, he went round the local organic stores and the farmers market to get all fresh ingredients and he cooked for us.
Anyone who experienced Damo’s cooking will tell you his work in the kitchen was every bit as remarkable as his contributions to music history. It was something he was very passionate about, although he was usually too polite to say anything against the food he encountered on his travels (except for YO! Sushi, that place really got his goat). He also loved to eat the local foods and always craved a good Sunday roast dinner when in town.
Visting Damo at home in 2015, it came as no surprise to find he lived wihin walking distance of a very well stocked organic store and he got the warm welcome of a very good customer. I think it is no exageration to say he could have been a very famous chef in an alternative career.
I’m sorry about the poor quality photos. My friend Michelle who made the excellent documentary “Energy: A Documentary About Damo Suzuki” has some amazing photos of the same shows but I wanted to make it more personal, even though I don’t have a fraction of her skills.
What are some other things people don’t mention about Damo? He was a huge film buff, with a massive DVD collection. When I visited, he showed us “The Legend of 1990”, a great film. He also introduced me to the local style of beer, Kölsch, which I’d never heard of before but when I emigrated a few months late, found out it is incredibly common at American craft breweries. He also had what appeared to be a complete collection of all the Osamu Tezuka manga. He’d originally wanted to be a manga artist himself.
The timing feels horrible. Can had only just announced their first live album to feature Damo, Paris 1973, out later this month. “Please Heat This Eventually” his 2007 collaboration with Omar Rodríguez-López had only just come to vinyl and Bandcamp. “Energy: A Documentary About Damo Suzuki” DVDs are imminent. I had vaguely mooted plans for something for the end of the year and was looking forward to more chats with him about the project. 2024 was meant to be all about Damo but not like this.
History will remember him as being part of a powerful creative force that changed the face of music. Those of us who met him, though, will remember something more. A man who spread kindness and good energy all across the world.
Energy – the long-awaited documentary on Damo Suzuki is finished and the first screenings have been announced. The documentary will be screening at the following dates:
London, RIO – 30 October – SUNDAY 4pm
Brighton, DUKE OF YORK – 1st November – TUESDAY
Bristol, CUBE – 4th November – Friday – 8pm
Nottingham, BROADWAY- 4th November – FRIDAY
Newcastle, TYNESIDE – 2nd November – WEDNESDAY
Birkenhead, FUTURE YARD – 6th November – SUNDAY 2pm
Birmingham, MOCKING BIRD – 6th November – SUNDAY 4pm
Cardiff, CHAPTER – 10th November – THURSDAY
Sheffield, SHOWROOM – 11th November – FRIDAY
Billed as “an existential journey through the power of healing with enigmatic frontman Damo Suzuki. Critically-acclaimed director Michelle Heighway has been working with iconic musician Damo Suzuki since 2014, culminating in ENERGY.”
The film shows five years of Suzuki’s life in Germany and the United Kingdom as he confronts cancer and attempts to continue a never- ending global tour.
The September Was Ist Das? radio show is ready for your pleasure. No themed mix but an actual radio show this time with new music and me talking in between and all sorts of genres.
So, no need for start times for this track listing, as I talk every couple of songs. This may be the new format. Or may not. Its important to keep things fresh
Adela Mede – Sloboda Akusmi – Fleeting Future Lloyd Miller – Camels to Cairo Peter Coccoma – Cloud of Understanding Party Dozen (feat Nick Cave) – Macca The Mutt Delphine Dora – Ritounelle Scolastique #1 Ghost Power – Asteroid Witch Ghost Power – Inchwork Flaccid Mojo – Moonwalk The Tomb Ufomammut – Psychostasia Dragged Up – Neighbourhood Watch Damo Suzuki & Spirtczualic – Ra Andrew Tuttle – Correlation Loner Deluxe – We Used To Dance In The Sky Sedna Chronicles – The Nunabut Letter POLICA – Madness Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals – Coke Jaw Praises – Persona Congregation of Drones – Gesture of Devotion Xpedient – E0007 (Shelley Parker remix) Madeleine Cocolas – Presence Dalek – Decimation (Dis Nation) The Black Albumen – Provokovieff
This month is another special themed radio show. Reflecting on the sheer size of my digital music library, I decided to shuffle it and use that shuffle as the playlist for this show but mix it all together myself. No exceptions, no skipping anything and including it all until I hit the two hour mark.
0:01:25 – Keith Seatman – The Gnome Zone
0:03:21 – Fairport Convention – No Man’s Land
0:05:16 – The Blue Nile – Heatwave
0:11:28 – Alabaster DePlume – I Will Not Be Safe
0:13:34 – Peninsula Fernandes – Do 16 Ao 18 (Flui Bem)
0:17:58 – Grouper – Come Softly (For Daniel D)
0:22:20 – Boo Sutcliffe – A Letter To My Younger Self
0:25:42 – White Hills – You Dream You See
0:30:56 – Sun CIty Girls – Harmful Little Armful (for Will Shatter)
0:31:35 – Air – Cemetery Party
0:34:06 – Richard Youngs – Radio Bus Station
0:35:30 – Manuel Gottsching – Queen A Pwn
0:40:26 – Grateful Dead – Feel Like A Stranger – 4/19/1986
0:49:15 – The Mars Volta – Cassandra Gemini: Tarantism
0:56:51 – Folkal Point – Lovely Joan
0:59:12 – Buck Gooter – Things
1:00:37 – Throbbing Gristle – D.O.A. (live at Goldsmiths 5-18-1978)
1:07:35 – David Bowie – London Bye, Ta-Ta (John Peel 13.5.68)
1:10:03 – Glenn Gould – Goldberg Variations, BMC 988: XIV Variation 13 a 2 Clav.
1:12:10 – RIchard Youngs & Simon Wickham-Smith – Everydayness
1:16:44 – Sumac Dub – Blundub
1:20:03 – Dom Cooper – Inlet
1:23:13 – Aleister Crowley – Thee Hymns For Man: At Sea
1:24:41 – Vanishing Twin – Language Is A City (Let Me Out)
1:29:05 – Sunburned Hand of the Man – The Obvious Moment
1:30:16 – Kaspar Hauser – Pencil Doings
1:33:37 – Cave In – Night Crawler
1:36:44 – Sunburned Hand of the Man – Pour Another One FOr Hamstring Jones
1:43:33 – Allegra Krieger – Telephone
1:46:39 – Michael Tanner – A Sussex Nocturne: Southease
