Matt Vinyl

Static in the Attic 2nd May

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Wed, 04 May 2011 07:48:00 +0000

Static in the Attic 2nd May

love & happiness – shoes,
jungle lion – lee perry,
crossword puzzle – sly & the family stone,
strange games & things – love unlimited orchestra,
around the world in a day – prince
bass drum & snare – lightning head,
east of the river nile – augustus pablo,
don’t fight it feel it – primal scream,
joe who? – mindless boogie,
papa won’t you let me go to town with you – bobbie gentry
loaded back – michael liggins,
check your bucket – eddie bo,
daylight – ramp,
la la – the step kids,
analove – fulgeance,
wax the van – arthur russell,
trick for treat – neon neon,
dance floor stalker – flying lotus,
broken heart (martyn remix) – trg,
time patrol – kode 9 & space ape
you don’t wash – kode 9 & space ape,
two sevens clash – culture,
nice up the dance – michigan & smiley,
a funky space reincarnation – marvin gaye

Static in the Attic 20th December

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:29:00 +0000

Static in the Attic 20th December

empire ants (harris & rogers mix) – gorillaz
bang bang bang – mark ronson & the business international
post suite – floating points ensemble
indeed – georgia anne muldrow
i need a dollar – aloe blacc
femme fatale – aloe blacc
jungle republic (ramadanman refix) – naphta
best of times – strong arm steady
freak for you – ?
send me your love – onra
the dreamer – gifted & blessed
castaju cajanea – jneiro janel
love in the morning – circus
radiance – oppenheimer analysis
and nico – paul white
limit to your love – james blake
bare blips – redinho
weakness – george fitzgerald
dirty illusions – rozzie daime
you don’t wash – kode 9
spottie – hypnotic brass ensemble
growing and glow – halves
twenty seven strangers – villagers

that's it for 2010. back in the New Year

Static in the Attic 13th December

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:06:00 +0000

Static in the Attic 13th December

2010 Round-up Special

i’m new here – gil scott heron
tightly closed – kavsrave
rita – bruce haack
love me girl – yeasayer
table tennis – flying lotus
sing – four tet
my kz ur bf – everything everything
windstorm – school of seven bells
click – the redneck manifesto
welcome to the plastic beach – gorillaz
all city – ruckazoid
tried for your love – krystal klear
night stroll – dam funk
i’ll stay – james blake
i only know (what i know now) – james blake
glut – ramadanman
down with you – pearson sound
fall short – ramadanman
treale – autechre
gordon – teebs
ready to start – arcade fire
bloodbuzz ohio – the national
this morning – gila
taxi cab – vampire wekend

Static in the Attic 6th December

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 19:10:00 +0000

Static in the Attic 6th December

california – mike gao
wake up – arcade fire
higher than the sun – primal scream
limit to your love – james blake
the devil’s dancers – oppenheimer analysis
take me away – das ding
way out of living – linear movement
gardening – mike slott
tried for your love (hudson mohawke remix) – krystal klear
hubris produca – mike gao
ta’raach – baaaby
sinking sands – roots manuva
proper tings juggled – roots manuva meets wrongtom
roots vibes – love joys
watch how the people dancing – kenny knots
weakness – george fitzgerald
klavierwerke – james blake
once in a while – lone
somebody to love me – mark ronson & the business international
guys eyes – animal collective
set it off – strafe
napalm brain/scatter brain – dj shadow
manchild (smith & mighty remix) – neneh cherry
broken – gorillaz

Static in the Attic 29th November

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 08:40:00 +0000

Static in the Attic 29th November

once in a while – lone
analove – fulgeance
goes to hollywood – paul white
limit to your love – james blake
double fifths – teebs
sexy lady – dam funk
rubiscubed (gable mix) – fulgeance
growing and glow – halves
too fly – dwele
if i – aloe blacc
indigo eden – jneiro janel
always there – wood, brass & steel
parrty – maceo
handclapping song – the meters
the old 1 2 – ramp
mr two face – quasimoto
the official – jaylib
dirty cunts – captain moonlight
oburumankoma – the kusum beat
the shrew would have cushioned the blow – joy orbison
so derobe – joy orbison
the pain – oh no
jungle soundz – madlib
transition – karl hector & the malkouns
humming bird – teebs
i raise bears – halves

Static in the Attic 15th November

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 08:56:00 +0000

Static in the Attic 15th November

Last Monday's show available for your listening pleasure.

Static in the Attic 1st November 2010

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 21:41:00 +0000

Static in the Attic 1st November

Static in the Attic 11th October

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 22:23:00 +0000

Static in the Attic 11th October

castaju cajuena – jneiro jarel
klavierwerke – james blake
plastic – bobby
fall short – ramadanman
empire ants – gorillaz
let me listen – sage
monkey hustle – jneiro jarel
maintain (falty dl mix) – computer jay
sing – four tet
lightning strikes – redinho
the one – onra
i only know (what i know now) – james blake
worl a mine – roots manuva
bring da ruckus – el michels affair
motherland – sylvia st james
secret rendezvous – rene & angela
foot notes – james blake
gardening – mike slott
the xpander – gifted & blessed
overnight – hudson mohawke
to a black boy – danger mouse & murs
kick it to the beat – j live
fukk – zacky force funk & kutmah

Static in the Attic 4th October

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 19:25:00 +0000

Static in the Attic 4th October

for the love of money – the philly armada orchestra
vous etes stereo – daedalus
lick up ya foot – roots manuva
live in other world – itadi
duet – gonjasufi
welcome to the world of the plastic beach – gorillaz
parisian goldfish (take remix) – flying lotus
time patrol – kode 9 & the spaceape
my favourite ladies – mf doom & clutchy hopkins
smile more – the redneck manifesto
sweet stuff – sylvia
splendid – art blakey and the jazz messengers
set it off – strafe
let me love you forever – computer love
tempest – ramadanman
by my side – checker kabb
pagadeja – okpe see
family tree – family tree
would know – mount kimbie
twenty seven strangers – villagers
weakness – george fitzgerald
disco balls – flying lotus
yim mas gan – the abyssinians
mr money man – danny hensworth

Static in the Attic 27th September

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 07:20:00 +0000

Static in the Attic 27th September

Static in the Attic 20th September

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 12:31:00 +0000

Static in the Attic 20th September

Static in the Attic 13th September

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:29:00 +0000

Static in the Attic 13th September

closed for business

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:50:00 +0000

What can I say? It's been a blast.

All mediocre things come to an end and this is it. What started as an experiment meant to last one year managed to string itself out for a little bit longer than that. On the way I've made virtual friends with plenty of bloggers. The one disconcerting aspect about this is that I've never met most of them. That said, I'd like to thank each and every blogger and other web people who've taken the time to visit or to link here from their own sites.

This blog was started to fill a musical void in my life. That void has now been filled once more and as such I'm going back to doing what I love best, playing tunes on internet radio to a handful of interested people.

I can't say that I always enjoyed keeping a blog. I've always believed that if you're not deriving any pleasure or benefit from work then it becomes a pointless task. It's been hard work at times, thinking about stuff to write about and then having to bloody well write it. Not that you'd think that I spent much time thinking about it by reading most of it. Whatever interest I had left for blogging has fallen by the wayside. There's a host of more interesting blogs in any case. By the same token there's a load more shit ones. In fact there's many, many more shit ones. Unfortunately most of those bloggers won't realise and they'll continue to fill the internet with their nonsense. In positive terms, special mention must go to those who have populated the blogroll on the right hand side of the page and those others who were there until they too stopped blogging. Even more special mention goes to the many blogs that I meant to put there but never found the time to do so.

The music goes on and I realise that you can't keep up with everything, even when you try. It's even harder when you're only half-arsed about it. Hopefully this departure from the world of blogging will mean that I've some energy to channel in other directions. Damn it, I might even play with my children or talk to my wife.

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye. Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you.

test card

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:30:00 +0000

The builders are in Chez Vinyl (adding on a west wing) so I've had to move out to a gaff with no internet connectivity. Back soon(ish)

there's many a slip twixt cup and lip

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:01:00 +0000

It seems like quite a while since I last had lots of seven inches to scrawl about. In the last couple of days I've picked up a few interesting bits and pieces and most of them are recent releases. Never one to stand on ceremony I'll get straight to some half-hearted reviews of the nice tunes I've bought.

I'd mentioned the Trensmat label before and its up for discussion again. I went to the website last week to see if I could get the Sonic Attack stuff they released a while back. Unfortunately they've none left but they directed me to some other sites where it was still available. I didn't bother following the links and gave up on getting them. Thankfully fate intervened yesterday when I went into Road Records. They had copies of the three seven inches and I plumped for two of them. As Meat Loaf might suggest, two out of three ain't bad. The first is Sonic Attack (Lords of Light) and it has Kinski covering 'Master of the Universe' and Bardo Bond doing a version of 'Lord of Light'. The second seven inch, Sonic Attack (Motorheads), has Mudhoney delivering their interpretation of 'Urban Guerilla' and Mugstar doing 'Born to Go'. Both seven inches are absolute blinders and this time the Trensmat Label has put them in some nice sleeves. Trensmat have some new releases in the pipeline that should be well worth checking. As they say themselves, every noise has a note.

All City served up a couple of unusual sevens when I went in today. The first comes courtesy of The Bombist Reggae Remixes label and it's another of their freaky remixes of popular tunes. It's the Muddy Skank Riddim of Estelle's 'American Boy'. It's as cheesy as a vintage stilton served up with some Christmas port. I love it. The flip side has a poxy reggae remix of the poxy tune 'Lollipop' by L'il Wayne. I don't love it.

I also picked up the latest Daptone seven inch in All City. It's the latest in a series of great releases on that label. This one is by Binky Griptite, it's called 'One time, you're mine' and its another slice of sweet soul music. It's in the same vein as all the great classics except that its new. Old school soul, old school production. It's a winner.

Writing of old school, I came across a Motown repressing of Stevie Wonder's classic tune 'For once in my life' on seven inch today. It's only pressed on one side so the b-side isn't very interesting. In fact I'd go as far to say that its non-existent. Which is handy because you don't have to turn it over, you can just listen to the a-side again.

The last two seven inches for review are most interesting. The first is a new seven inch from Kings of Leon called 'Use Somebody'. Not too interesting in itself but things pick up when you check the b-side. It features a tune called 'Knocked Up' that's been given the Lykke Li/Rodeo treatment to create a mash up of sorts. It's weird in that its really a duet. You'll just have to hear it to judge yourself. In the interim you can check this live version of 'Breaking it Up' by Lykke Li. She's a mad yoke.

Breaking it up – alternative live video. Filmed by: Christian Haag from Lykke Li on Vimeo.

Last but not least is a new picture disc seven inch from Ladyhawke. The a-side has a tune called 'My Delirium' but once again my interest is in the b-side. It's a Toddla T & Ross Orton remix that sounds like something from the Joker drum and bass label from circa 1997. It's a full on two-step beat with farty basslines. As each genre gets cannibalised it resurfaces a few years later in a similar form but with a different name. I should really hate this tune but there's some hook in it that has me liking it. Damn it.

You can hear all of the tunes mentioned above, this coming Monday night, if you go to www.powerfm.org and listen live. I'll be on between 11pm and 1am GMT on Monday 8th December. You're more than welcome to tune in. Bring a friend. In fact why wait for me, listen live to the station now.

more static in that attic of mine

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:03:00 +0000

Forget all that podcast shit. Internet radio is the future. Join me every Monday night and let us face into the future together. Just like in some romantic movie or something like that. To give a little taster of what's happening in my attic every monday night check out the playlist below.

jackie – ras g & the afrikan space program – crate creator music
street corner music – snowman – all city
my light bridge – mike slot – all city
notorious (diplo vocal version) – turbulence – ghetto arc/xl records
council estate (south rakkas crew mix) – tricky – domino
wearing my rolex – wiley – east west
don’t mess with my man – lucy pearl – pookie records
stick to your line – RSAG - psychonavigation
gum – cornelius – warner music japan
oh yeah – yello – warner bros music
the sun goes down – level 42 – polydor
justified & ancient – the KLF – KLF communications
I hate hate – razzy – casual records
we don’t love enough – triumphs – numero records
renegade snares (foul play remix) – omni trio – moving shadow
shackbu – plaid – warp records
on the dole queue – scary éire – eleven records
police officer – smiley culture – polydor
informer – lady ann – soul jazz records
gamma ray – beck – xl recordings
upside down – carol cool – soul jazz records
got to give it up – marvin gaye – motown

a weekend in the country

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:11:00 +0000

Here's some pretty shit photos of me, the Don Rosco, The Mullet, Hamster and Mally McG wreaking havoc on the hills around Carlingford. It was just like the adventures of Cúchulainn but with more raisins.

in the midst of life we are in debt, etc.

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:27:00 +0000

There are three interesting Irish releases up for discussion in todays post as well as some views on the new digital radio service from RTE. Alongside both of these we'll look at some of the recent vinyl purchases from my good self.

First up is the latest release from D1 Records here in Dublin. I just happened to be in Road Records when a chap came in armed with some CD's and looking to have them stocked. I laughed a little as Dave kept calling him Roger when his name was in fact Robert. Robert Doyle to be precise. I kept earwigging as he and Dave hammered out minutiae of the deal and approached the CD's that he left with great interest. I picked up the CD to see that it was in fact the latest release from D1 Records. Peculiarly the tracks were titled in Irish. That's not altogether strange as I remember David Donohoe had a 12" release on D1 that also had an Irish title. I asked Dave to put it on the speakers and he obligingly did (because he's so nice) and it turns out that the track is not the usual techno from the D1 stable. Instead its a traditional release of some acoustic tunes that are sung through the medium of the Irish language. This was quite a departure from the usual fare on the D1 label so I'm now wondering if Robert Doyle is in fact related to label owner, Eamonn Doyle. Answers on a postcard please.

The second release is from the Trensmat Label and features not one but two new seven inches due for global consumption this coming January. This time the releases are by Expo'70 and Black to Comm. These are now available for pre-order and are, of course, limited edition lovely 7" vinyls in full colour picture sleeves. Check out their website for previous drone magic.

The third release come just in time for Christmas and is yet another release on the Indiecater label run by MP3Hugger. This time its a novel approach to the Christmas album. Kev has collected 17 original compositions that will provide a nice alternative to the usual shite that gets repackaged and rereleased at Christmas. Amongst the more well known featured artists are Nina Hynes and Jape but there's also a United Nations of Musicians making up the other 15 artists. Check out the website for more information.

I was interested to see that the DAB service from RTE has finally got going. Today saw the six new digital radio stations go live. Amongst the six stations is RTE Pulse which is a dedicated dance music station. I was interested to check out the full schedule and did so today. It's reads like a Who's Who of people I've never heard of before. That might be a good or a bad thing, i'm not sure yet. I thought that they'd have some of the more well known DJ's that the Irish clubber would be familiar with. Instead it looks like they've gone for the option of drafting in fresh faces. Some of the pictures of the DJ's are pretty funny. It's nice to know that some people are more contrived in their photos than I am. Check em.

Finally, I picked up an album of note by LA based sloppy beat maker Ras G & The Afrikan Space Program. It's more of the sloppy beat hip hop that I've slowly become accustomed to. Olan in All City Records is a fan of this kind of stuff and has released some of it in his 7X7 series, most notably the last seven inch by Mike Slott. You can check out the MySpace of Ras G and do some background reading on Mike Slott in his interview over on the Cheebah site.

static in my attic

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:29:00 +0000

Well, well, well. There you are again. The wind has been whistling through this blog for the last week or so. Throughout that time I was thinking of interesting subjects and musical purchases to write about here. Unfortunately in the interim I've forgotten each and every one of those things. As such you can rest assured that this post will be filled with my usual fodder.

There's a recent compilation available from Souljazz Records that's just mighty fine. It's Volumes I & II of 'Dancehall - The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Music' and it charts the eighties Jamiacan dancehall scene. It features a whole host of classic tunes from the likes of Tenor Saw, Cutty Ranks and Sister Nancy. I bought them on double-vinyl lp but they're also available on CD. It turns out that they were released at the same time as an accompanying 200 page book by Beth Lesser. Both the music and the book have been released by Souljazz.

Things hot up on the Irish music scene as the Choice Music Prize looms large. The award is dished out for the best Irish album of the current year as chosen by a committee of 12 judges drawn from the music industry. Mere mention of the awards over on Jim's blog has already seen canvassing begin for the various artists. Amongst the names being bandied about are albums by Jape, Lisa Hannigan and Daniel O'Donnell. There's also some other interesting potential winners in the form of RSAG, Chequerboard and Fight Like Apes. The winner takes all in the form of €10,000 and a piece of glass. The losers get to bitch about what might have been.

I've noticed a load of blogs fall by the wayside recently. Blogging is now sooo 2007 that I'm embarassed to be keeping mine up. In truth my attentions have been diverted somewhat by my recent return to internet radio. The last three Monday nights I've been in my attic broadcasting to the world wide web (or a selection of users therein) whilst my family sleep soundly below. The experience has been very strange. I've been whispering into a mic in the late hours and its beginning to resemble snooker commentary in between the records. It's a great buzz though. As mentioned previously, you're welcome to join me and Monday or if you can't tune in live you can check out the archived shows.

I've not been to any gigs in the past week or so and although I've picked up a few seven inches there's none of them worth writing about. I am looking forward to a weekend in the country with some old chums. We're heading to Carlingford in Co. Louth so I expect that diesel-washing and sheep-smuggling will form a large part of the agenda, I also hope to check out the other activities on offer in the general area. I'll be joined by some old junglist colleagues and an expectant father. It will surely be a blast.

I've been remiss in failing to mention the Brilliant Trees rerelease on Indiecater. Kev is serving them up in quickfire succession and makes mention of another release before Christmas. Where does he find time to do the shopping?

welcome in

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:45:00 +0000

The assembled cast in The Welcome Inn last night were quite a bunch. I had the Galafari to my left. He was still partying from the night before and the wear and tear was beginning to show. Seated to his left was Barry Delta who had also been partying the previous night but obviously values life's simpler pleasures such as sleeping. Galafari and Barry had of course been celebrating the Reach 2nd Birthday Bash in The Twisted Pepper. Happy second birthday to them. To their left again was the Don of Irish Junglism, the man himself, Naphta. I forgot to tell him last night that I'd only been listening to his 'Long Time Burning' album during the week. Although released last December I only listened to it a couple of times since. During the week I decided that I'd dig it out for another listen and it truly is the finest junglism to have come out of this town. To Naphta's left was another lover and maker of beats, hailing from the UK, weighing in at 13 stone it was the one, the only, Equinox. Moving left again the Mullet took his place between Equinox on one side and Dublin's legendary techno pusher Eamonn Doyle of D1 Records (check him out below with the lovely Welcome Inn behind him). The cameo appearances were put in by myself and the Don Rosco. There was one reason and one reason only for this musical meeting of minds. We were all off to see Rollers Sparkers in the Joy Gallery on Rutland Place.

Rutland Place itself holds a few memories from my distant past. There was a party gaff at the end of it that saw many rave casualties pass both in and out its doors. Fond memories indeed from a time when most of the week would be spent recuperating from the weekends exertions. They were simpler times back then.

Myself and Rosco were eager to move the assembled crew around to the gallery but they're a fairly lethargic lot. We did make it in time to see the last tune by Children Under Hoof. I'm glad we made it because although they were a bit frayed around the edges I enjoyed the buzz about them. I guess that they are in their early twenties at most as they had an affectation about them that was somewhat innocent. The tune was a krautrock/psychedelic prog effort but most bands forget that this type of thing is actually really hard to pull off. To maintain the driving rhythm required for this type of music the heartbeat of the band needs to be spot on. At times during their last tune they could have done with a pacemaker. The bass player and drummer didn't seem to be playing in the same time. The guitarist, who looked a little bit like Catweazel, went a bit wonky at the end and in Mark E Smith fashion went over and started belting away at the cymbals. This was the last thing the drummer needed given the difficulties he was already experiencing. The keyboard player kept looking at the drummer and bassist trying to give thenm the nod to end the song but they were ignoring him. In the midst of all this sat the only female member of the band and it looked like she was playing a Nintendo DS. It seems she has other musical abilities as there was a range of instruments adorning the table in front of her, however any such abilities were kept under cover as she completed the next level of Donkey Kong. Song finished, there was a ramshackle attempt at a Von Trapp family bow. To be fair this was their finale tune so they may have just decided to go apeshit. Next up, Rollers Sparkers.

Knowing the members of Rollers Sparkers, my critical faculties are somewhat skewed. I think that they're great and have done since the first time I saw them a few years ago. That said, they were pretty ramshackle the first time I heard them so the kids from Children Under Hoof can take hope. After what seemed like a long time of fixing gear and fiddling with knobs, they were off. Not that most people noticed. The crowd kept chatting away until a few minutes into the first tune. I'm not sure how the band describe their music but suffice to say its slightly leftfield. They make great use of the array of effects on both their voices and instruments. Their tunes build from a basic rhythm into swathes of driving bass, vocal harmonies and electronic effects and pull the listener along with them. It's not the type of stuff you dance to. Those hearing it are usually more inclined to nod their heads a little. In fact much more time is spent focussing on the contributions from the trio and trying to distinguish exactly who is making what sound. I could only hang around for the first three tunes but it was great. Apparently it was their last live show for a while as they go back to write and rehearse material for a new album. I for one will be looking forward to it.

It was great to see a space like the Joy Gallery being used for stuff like this. It was my first time there but I reckon they could be on to something in using it as a venue. They've held a few such gigs there since it opened earlier this year. I can imagine this kind of thing is de riguer in places like Berlin but it was refreshing to see it happen here in Dublin. There were sixty or seventy people packed into a tight space and buzzing off a couple of bands. Having no licence to sell alcohol the attendees were invited to bring their own booze along if they felt like it. The basic ingredients for a successful recipe are there for them. I wish them every success if their venture continues in this vein.

On other fronts I picked up an album on Grand Royal called New York State of Mind. It features a whole load of Beastie Boy tunes that have been reworked by Green Lantern. These tunes have seen the light of day before on earlier 12inch release and on various Green Lantern mixtapes but I think this album is the first time its been put together on vinyl. One reason for thinking that is that I've been googling it and I can find it mentioned in fuck all places. I think it only got a release at the end of October but its been slow to appear in shops. I was over the the Beastie Boys site trying to get some info when I came across this page. Right in the top middle of the photo is a Saba McDisc just like mine. Nice one.

I also picked up the vinyl release of 'Peeek - an earful of Irish Underground' which has been given a limited free issue on vinyl by the nice Analogue people. I got the CD a few weeks ago but to be honest I never play CD's in the house, or the car, or anywhere else for that matter. I'm not much of a CD guy I guess. As such i was most pleased to get the tunes on vinyl including the contributions by Ugly Megan and Katie Kim. It's only as I write that I realise that there's a tune by Children Under Hoof on it too. I'll have to listen to that later.

I also picked up a limited release seven inch that's from earlier this year. It's a tune called Id Engager and it's by Of Montreal. It's on Polyvinyl Records and its got a nice electro groove to it. It's not what I expected at all. I'm not really familiar with Of Montreal and it was a blind buy but I'm liking it.

Right so. I'm off to cry about Arsenal's unfulfilled potential so far this season. You can catch me playing live on www.powerfm.org on Monday night between 11pm and 1am GMT. Drop in and have a listen to me talk shite in between the good music. Later

the power station

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:26:00 +0000

If anyones interested I'm back broadcasting on internet radio every Monday night between 11 pm and 1 am GMT. I'd love if you could join me so that you could listen to my incomprehensible ramblings and shambolic presenting. It truly is a valuable lesson in how not to broadcast. I remain undeterred however and I got a great buzz out of it last Monday night. The show is presented from my attic via a VPN to the powerfm studio and from there to the world wide web. WOW.

You can listen to powerfm.org live

You can check out the playlist from the first show

You can listen to the archived shows (if you take a minute to register)

Suck it and see.

it's jazz baby

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:03:00 +0000

Me – I’m going to the Tripod please.

Taxi Bloke – On Harcourt St?

Me – Yeah.

Taxi Bloke – What’s on there?

Me – Herbie Hancock.

Taxi Bloke – Who’s he?

Me – You might know him from that tune he did called ‘Rockit’ back in 1983.

Taxi Bloke – No

Me – He’s done lots of other stuff. Played with the likes of Miles Davis, Donald Byrd, Wayne Shroter, Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius, did the theme tune to the Cosby Kids cartoon show, stuff like that

Taxi Bloke – Ah jaysus, all those musicians are up their own hole.

Me – Well he’s famous, but I doubt that he’s that bad.

Taxi Bloke – I’ve a friend who’s a musician and he’s up his own arse. He’s not in touch with reality. Are you going to Girls Aloud? You could go to that gig with earplugs in and you’d still enjoy it.

And so began the night. The Herbie Hancock Sextet was playing in Tripod last night and the Don Rosco weaved some magic and sorted me out with entry to the gig. We hooked up with The Mullet beforehand and managed to bypass the lengthy queue that had formed. Straight in. No chaser. Apparently it was supposed to kick-off at 8 sharp but it was 8.15 before Herbie and his ensemble arrived on stage. Last night he was joined by Lionel Loueke on guitar, Terence Blanchard on trumpet, James Genus on bass guitar, Gregoire Maret on harmonica and Kendrick Scott on drums.

Rather than being up his own arse Herbie was an entirely affable character (I can’t wait to tell that taxi driver). He complained a little about the cold, introduced the band, completed some general audience interaction, compared his well worn shoes with Blanchards silver sneakers and kicked off with the tune ‘Actual Proof’ which I think is from the second Headhunters album, Thrust. It lasted about twenty minutes or twice as long as the recorded version. When it was over there was some more audience interaction and it turns out that he’s not only affable but he’s a fairly funny, self-deprecating individual too. I’m really warming to Herbie now. He cracks into the tune ‘Speak like a child’ and after about fifteen minutes it segues into a version of ‘The Visitor’. Another fifteen minutes later and that tune ends. At this stage I’m beginning to wonder exactly how many tunes he’s going to fit into the gig.

Herbie then gave a special introduction to Lionel Loueke. I was reading about Lionel’s background today and his tale really is something special. From his poor beginnings in Benin, West Africa he’s now playing guitar all over the world with some jazz legends. Last night we were treated to a composition of his called ‘Seven Teens’ that featured on his recent release Karibu. It’s apparently written with seventeen beats to the bar, which I imagine is damn hard to play. This was followed by a solo improvisation with just his voice and guitar. The rest of the band left him to it and took a quick piss break. There was some crowd interaction when he got everyone clapping and chanting and he did a bit of mad shit with his voice that sounded like Huey, Louis & Dewey doing some human beatboxing. It was great value. The rest of the gig just melted together. They did a version of ‘Cantaloup Island’; a tune that many will know inspired the US3 cover version, Cantaloop. I don’t remember all that much after that. It was all done and dusted by 10.30 and we were sent home with the jazz fusion still ringing in our ears.

Never a man to miss a trick, The Mullet led us down to Anseo on Camden Street where we caught some of the set from UK dubstepper Plastician. The place was heaving downstairs so we popped our heads upstairs for a couple of quick swifties. A much more convivial atmosphere up there and the smell of body odour wasn’t as bad. Some times you have to know when to call a night a night and that time was upon me. The Carling Cup highlights beckoned me home and there I headed. Maximum respect to the Don Rosco for driving me home just in time to see the Arsenal kids stick a few in the onion bag against Wigan. All was right with the world.

just another thursday night in dublin city

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:58:00 +0000

I was out and about last night; supping pints with The Mullet in Anseo on Camden St. Gerry from Beatfinder Records latterly joined us. We’d tried to blag some tickets for a Jape gig in The Sugar Club but our calls went unheeded. Apparently it was some kind of corporate thing so I’m not sure how welcome we would have been. We were chatting about heading over to Kittser’s Spilly Walker thingy in Whelan’s when The Mullet received a call from the man himself. It just so happens that he’s currently in New York and last night he completed the mix-down of his latest album. Apparently its been done by some famous hip-hop producer bloke. The Mullet told me who it was but I’ve forgotten already. In any case, Kittser’s pleased with the end result and as such it’s looming ever closer to a release early next year. We still headed over to Whelans where Graham Lambkin was standing in for Kittser. I hadn’t been in Whelans for years and the layout has changed considerably since then. The clientele hasn’t though. It’s still choc a bloc with urban culchies. It’s a slightly more chic version of that Flannery’s boozer across the road from it. I lasted about fifteen minutes in the place and had to split.

I was delighted to see my mate Lance Daly feature in today’s Irish Times. He’s receiving some press at the moment following the international plaudits of his latest movie ‘Kisses’. It follows two kids, Kylie and Dylan, on their nighttime adventure into Dublin City from their suburban neighbourhood. This came as a bit of a surprise as the last time I was talking to Lance he was banging on about a car-racing movie he’d scripted. Thankfully, he’s still planning to do that and it’s even got a working title now, it’ll be called ‘Suckin Diesel’. I’m really looking forward to that one. In the meantime I’ll make do with ‘Kisses’. It’s been very well received at a number of international film festivals and it gets a general release here in Ireland on November 21st.

In other news, Dublin horror rockers The Things have released their debut album, Some Kind of Kick on Nicotine Records. It’s available for download now from the Nicotine website but won’t be getting a physical release until the new year.

The Reach drum and bass crew celebrate their 2nd birthday next Friday 14th November in the Twisted Pepper on Middle Abbey St. It features some stellar guests in the form of Fabio, Equinox and Benga. It also features the Reach regulars and in the bar there's a reggae sunsplash from Galafari and the man like Alistan Munroe (a wonderful chap a great tie designer to boot). In reality there's something for everyone so head on down and help the lads blow out their candles. Here they are looking like the Kids from Fame.

I bumped into Conzo last night when I was out on the piss and again today when I was weighed down looking for a taxi. Conzo is a former member of Female Hercules but he's back in the saddle these days with a new band called Moutpiece. If punk and roll is your bag then you should check out their new album. You can order it from roadrecs.com at your leisure. You should also check out Aoife Mc's recent interview with half the band here.

I picked up a couple of seven inches the first of which is by Gizzelle on Wild Records. I thought it was a rerelease of a really old tune but it turns out that its brand spanking new. It sounds like reggae rockabilly if that makes sense. You can check out a live version of it here.

The other seven inch I got was Ac/Dc's 'Whole Lotta Rosie'. I actually bought it for my daughter of the same name because I thought she might get a buzz out of it. I haven't played it to her yet but I expect she'll thank me for it some day.

Oxfam turned up two delights on album this week. The first is The Planxty Collection which features a selection of tunes from their albums 'Planxty', 'Well below the Valley' and 'Cold Blow and the Rainy Night'. It features some of their best tunes and also has some nice sleeve notes on it. The other album I couldn't resist was the soundtrack to 'The Life of Brian'. I only bought it because it has the Brian before Pilate scene on it. Thwow him to the floor.

Finally, big up to Olan in All City. I told him about my plight as outlined in my previous post and he came up with the goods for me. There was an old Vestax direct drive lying on a shelf in his shop and he sold it to me for a knock-down price. It's game on and it looks like I should be able to do my first show on Monday night. I'll keep you in the loop.

i need one of these!

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:55:00 +0000

I'm finally sorting out the bits and pieces to start broadcasting again on powerfm.org . I've a VPN set up and I'm ready to roll. Except that is for one small thing. I'm looking around the room at all sorts of turntables but only one of them plugs into the back of a mixer. As such I need another turntable, preferably a Technics 1200/1210, as the final piece in the jigsaw. Does anyone know someone who's selling one? If you do I'd welcome your help. Nice one!

let the spirits move you

goldenmaverick@gmail.com (Matt Vinyl) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:43:00 +0000

A couple of year ago I decided that I’d not buy as many albums due to an ever increasing collection and only a limited time to listen to them. I had a great idea. I’d just buy seven inches instead. They don’t take up half as much room and they’re much quicker to listen to. What started out as a nice lunchtime shopping distraction has turned into a full-blown addiction. I’m now running out of shelf and box space for the little blighters. All my talk of getting some bespoke shelves made has amounted to nothing. It was all bluff and bluster. I’ve not bothered my arse doing anything about it. It’s now at the point where I’m buying seven inches that I’d forgotten I already owned. What will become of all this?

After lamenting the lack of seven inches out there I decided that maybe I should just try harder to find some. Like a junkie looking for a fix (but slightly better dressed and a little more handsome) I steeled myself late last week to venture forth into the various record stores of Dublin. And as it turns out I had a highly successful trip. I picked up nine little beauties and took them back home to take their place in the vinyl vault. Here they will gather dust until my kids reach their teenage years and thank me for the collection I amassed on their behalf. Or something like that!

The Smiths released ‘Hand in Glove’ as their first single and it failed to chart. Not to be outdone both Morrissey and Johnny Marr entreated the then retired Sandie Shaw to do a cover of it. Hey presto it’s a hit. Next thing you know she’s writhing on the floor during an appearance on Top of the Pops. Behind her are Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce, all barefoot, in homage to the great woman herself. I don’t think it’s as good as the original but I’m glad to have a copy of it for posterity.

So too was there gladness when I picked up a copy of Joe Jackson’s ‘Is she really going out with him’. I’ll put it beside my recently acquired copy of ‘Stepping Out’ by the same artist. I don’t really know much of his other stuff and to be honest I’m afraid to listen to it in case I’m disappointed. I like those two tunes so much that I find it hard to believe he could have equalled or bettered them. I remember he appeared on 'Later' a few years back and I think he might have performed this tune. That only leads me to believe that he hasn't done anything better.

I got both of the aforementioned seven inches in Spindizzy Records in the Georges Street Arcade. They’d also got a couple of boxes of second-hand reggaes sevens in so I had to have a look through them too. There was loads of stuff there that I was kind of interested in but as I say, space is at a premium in Chez Vinyl these days. As such I settled for the following three tunes. ‘Fally Ranking’ by Johnny Osborne was released on the Greensleeves label in 1980. This seven-inch of the tune is a repressing from 2001 and delightfully features a b-side by Black Uhuru of a top reggae tune called ‘I love King Selassie’. The next couple of reggae sevens look like they’re represses on the Trojan subsidiary label, Jackpot. The first is the well-known Ken Boothe version of The Abyssinians classic ‘Satta Massa Gana’ and has the accompanying Satta Riddim on the flip side. Likewise with the next tune. It’s another Abyssinians tune ‘Declaration of Rights’, this time by Johnny Clarke and it too has the version on the flip. Animal tune!

A trip down to All City Records was equally, if not more, successful. I bagged the new seven-inch by Mike Slott on the All City label. It’s hard to describe but I’m going to attempt it anyway. I was listening to it over the shop speakers when some teenage kids came in to buy some spray paint. One of them asked if the shop sold dance music and proceeded to treat me to some happy hardcore that he had on his phone. I told him that he was in fact listening to some cutting edge leftfield hip-hop over the shop speakers but he couldn’t reconcile my description with what he was hearing. Therein lies the problem with describing ‘Flunky’ by Mike Slott. It really is going to have limited appeal to most people. Like Guinness you have to acquire a taste for this. I think it’s great.

There were a bunch of other seven inches behind the counter so I picked them up and starting listening to them. I picked out an eighties nu-soul/funk tune by, wait for it, Wynd Chymes. The track is pure cheese. Now don’t jump to conclusions. I’m not talking Galtee Easi Singles here. I’m talking good cheese. A finely aged Stilton. A nice Camembert even. It’s called ‘Baby you’re the one’ and it really is a cracker. All bass and hairspray. The other tune that I picked out was by German dubstepper Phokus and it’s called ‘Police in Helicopter’. The tune is called Inta and the flip side has a remix by Wadadda on it. The pressing is limited to 400 copies and that makes me feel pretty bad. It turns out that Olan had ordered the pile of records I’d picked up for himself. Nevertheless being the consummate professional he still sold me the two tunes I wanted. Now that’s service for you.

Finally I also chanced upon the latest seven inch release from the latest Roots Manuva album Slime and Reason. It’s called ‘Let the Spirit’ and I hadn’t really given it much thought when listening to the album. Then I saw it performed on ‘Later’ and I was hooked. It’s sparse and simple and it’s beautiful. I have the kids singing the chorus all day. I think that they’re hooked too. Here he is on Later.