SMS mix 11 - The Worm

Describing themselves as "A twenty first century mix of Mali blues, reggae and garage.... Bassekou Kouyate and Bob Marley jammin on Mozart tunes in MJ Cole's studio in Bamako with Aretha Franklin, Aesop Rock and Dizzee Rascal", The Worm will be tearing it up live at our first ever Stop Making Sense festival in Croatia this September.

Inspired by old-school garage and Jamaican dancehall as much as African highlife, if you like Radioclit then you'd do well to check this lot out too - their exclusive SMS mix, a summation of their wide ranging tastes, is an absolutely corker, a perfect soundtrack for summer in the city...

Download: SMS mix 11 - The Worm

We caught up with the band to find out more...

Summer's coming, what's on the agenda?
"Standard missioning across the fields of the UK in a souped-up Toyota Previa with far too much sub. As well as SMS we've got a nice range of festivals - We'll be at Sunrise (Saturday 6th June, Triban stage, midnight) Glastonbury (The Hub, Thursday 6pm, Small World, Sunday midnight), Beat Herder (Friday 2nd July), Lovebox (Friday 16th July, 4pm, Jose Cuervo Stage), Secret Garden Party (Planet of the Antics, Saturday 24th July, 7pm), Grassroots Feastival (Friday 3rd September). We're also co-curating one of the big areas at Secret Garden Party (formerly Valley of the Antics, now 'Planet of the Antics') and we run our Wormfood parties at Passing Clouds every two months - next one Saturday 3rd July with Violentango from Argentina, plus The bPm....."

Tell us about your latest projects?
"Working on this Mixtape! We've been playing live shows as The Worm for 3 years now (percussion, violin, vocals and now laptop), but since getting more and more involved with programming and promotion, I (Andre) have started dabbling in the dangerous world of DJing under the nickname Bobby Gandolf......   I'm still RUBBISH at mixing but I rate my taste in music! So as well as improving the live mixing side of things, I've been working with Worm laptop wizard Nick Bentley to make a mixtape on Ableton that will showcase some of the sounds we like and also just to give people something nice to enjoy the summer!

"We're starting to play out as Worm Soundsystem/ Bobby Gandolf ft. Billy "Brassiere...We're also beginning to work on some production for other vocalists.... there are loads of amazing Jamaican MCs around Hootananny Brixton, where I put on nights, especially Clint, who sells the jerk chicken in the beer garden.... so we're starting to make some tracks to feature some of those guys...."

What current artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
"Been getting into dancehall the last year or two, partly thanks to the amazing inspiration of The Heatwave. As well as being a phenomenal DJ and remixer, he is super on-it with the blogs and is always giving away tunes on his website and facebook. And they are always hot! Definitely feeling Busy Signal and the way he seems to embrace loads of different styles (like his remix of Sergio Mendes' 'Magalenha' which features on our mixtape). Also everyone bringing in credible global elements while maintaining a sound that can make a club crowd move.... people like RadioClit, Buraka Som Sistema, Toy Selecta, Renaissance Man....."

What are you favourite/biggest tunes of the moment?
"Been getting right back into the old-school garage of my teens. Remembering tunes like 'Neighbourhood' (on our mixtape as Zed Bias' 'I Feel Good' remix), 'Battle' (Wookie, also on our mixtape), MJ Cole's 'Sincere', etc. But there are still loads of amazing tunes which don't seem to have resurfaced. 'What You Want' (Industry Standard), 'The Dreem Teem Theme' (Dreem Teem), 'Closer Than Close', 'Masquerade', 'Gunman' etc. Looking forward to somebody giving those a 21st-century workover..."

What can we expect from your show at Stop Making Sense?
"A big rowdy mix of sweet African grooves, soulful female vocals, jumpy energetic percussion and plenty of bass." 

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play at the festival?
"We're only going to be there on the Sunday so not sure who we'll catch, but Radioclit have been a big inspiration for us, and I'm really feeling Toy Selectah right now! Always love Cal Jader and Russ Jones' DJ sets as well..."

Any unusual festival tips?
"Peanut butter and bananas go a long way. And it's always fun chopping things with an oversized knife. I have a ridiculously large kind of hunting knife which I always take to festivals, it's so much fun to chop cheddar with. Let alone spread peanut butter. Careful with the airport security though..."

Where will we find you at sunrise on Sunday morning?
"Unfortunately, at Gatwick Airport looking extremely bleary eyed after running a stage at the Grassroots Feastival near Cambridge, but looking forward to catching our flight and getting some much needed sunshine Croatia festival vibes!"

SMS mix 11 - Tracklisting

1. The Battle - Wookie (feat. Lain)
2. Insane - The Bug feat. Warrior Queen
3. You Got the Love - The XX/Florence and the Machine
4. I Feel Good - Zed Bias
5. To the Rescue - Prince Zimboo
6. Feel Me - Rod Lee
7. Kpako Solo - Boni Gnahoré
8. Body Baby - Pharoahe Monch (Count of Monte Christo remix)
9. Love on the Brew - The Worm (Lee Sparey remix)
10. Gangster - Mask
11. General - Buraka Som Sistema
12. Temperature/Sirens - Sean Paul/ Hard House Banton (Heatwave refix)
13. Take it Higher - Hotsteppa @ Funky Allstars
14. Bucovina - Shantel (Felix B Basement Mix)
15. Cumbia - Harry Choo Choo Romero
16. Up in Her Belly/ Magalenha - Busy Signal/Segio Mendes
17. Oy You Coy Girl - The Worm (Honey Weasel refix)
18. Nookie - Jamesy P
19. 1er Gaou - Magic System

SMS mix 10 - Rob Summerhayes (Warm)

Taking our venerable weekly exclusive mix series into double digits is one of London's premier party crews Warm, who'll be bringing their bass-heavy disco and house vibes to our first Stop Making Sense festival this September.

Their mix, by Warm resident DJ Rob Summerhayes, is pretty much an instant classic, a downtown NYC loft party style selection of old school classic house and new school Balearic disco with stand-out cuts and remixes from the likes of Lil Louis, Todd Terje, George Morel, The Juan Maclean and DFA's resident synth wizard Gavin Russom in his acid house Black Van guise (tracklisting below).

Download: SMS mix 10 - Rob Summerhayes (Warm)

We spoke to Warm's Ali Tillett to find out more...

Summer's coming, what's on the agenda?
"At the moment we have quite a few things coming up such as our Plastic People residency with Prosumer and Tim Sweeney in July and August and on top of that we have festival slots at Lovebox and V festival in Chelmsford as well as a few European residencies in the pipeline which we are looking to kick start very soon! Beyond that we have a monster line-up nearly finalised for Warm 11th Birthday in October which will also be the start of a quarterly residency at Corsica Studios."

Tell us about your latest projects?
"Working on some new events and line-ups for the Autumn / Winter which is nearly all done as well as working on European warm residencies and there is a record label in the pipeline. Also continually working on the agency with artists such as Horse Meat Disco, The Revenge, Mark E, Tensnake and many more..."

What current artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
"At the moment the most exciting artists around that i continually keep checking are Kyle Hall, DJ Koze and Nicolas Jaar on the house / electronic front and then my fave band at the moment are Ariel Pink. All are currently on rotation on the ipod."

What are you favourite/biggest tunes of the moment?
Space - Deliverance (Justus Kohncke Remix) - Nang
DJ T - Gorilla Hug (Nicolas Jaar Remix) - Get Physical
Ame - Junggesellenmaschine - Innervisions
Zero 7 - Home (Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix)
Rocha - Feel The Love (Greg Wilson Remix) - International Feel
DJ Koze - Rue Burnout - Pampa
Moritz Von Oswald - Cocoon Dark Dub - Cocoon
Catz N Dogz & dOP - Deaf Wagrant (Selianka Edit) - Watergate
Matthew Herbert - Leipzig - Accidental
Al Tourettes & Appleblim - Mr Swishy (Linkwood Remix) - Aus Music

What can we expect from your show at Stop Making Sense?
"Everything and anything...lots of exclusives and sun drenched disco and house delights on our boat party to fit the mood perfectly and then we might get a bit darker for our club set...who knows...musically as much as possible crammed into the time....we will see."

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play at the festival?
"Definitely looking forward to seeing Theo Parrish, Kyle Hall, Carl Craig, Patrice Scott, Keith Worthy and Optimo."

SMS mix 10 - Tracklisting:

1. I'll Be Gone (Extended Original) - Mario Basanov & Vidis ft. Jazzu - Silence Music
2. Oh Love - Gadi Mizrahi - Wolf + Lamb
3. 6th Borough Project - White
4. The Poet - Housey Doingz - Wiggle
5. Happy House (Chateau Flight mix) - The Juan MacLean - DFA
6. Yearning (Original mix) - Black Van - DFA
7. Not Feeling It - Daniel Wang - Balihu
8. Robotic Hypnotic Adventure (Runaway mix) - Neurotic Drum Band - Wurst
9. Dance Dance Dance (Dixon Dixon Dixon mix) - Lykke Li - CDR
10. Club Lonely (Dixon Edit) - Lil' Louis - CDR
11 Let's Groove (Original Mix) - George Morel - Strictly Rhythm
12. Simple Things (Work It Out) Todd Terje Version - Shit Robot - DFA
13. Electric Feel (Prince Language Remix) - MGMT - CDR

Friendly Fires: life's a beach

Following last week's hugely popular SMS mix (stream below!) we caught up with Friendly Fires' drummer and resident DJ Jack Savidge to find out how channeling the spirit of Carl Craig, Justin Timberlake and Black Sabbath is going on the recording of their new LP and why wet wipes are this season's essential festival must-have...

Summer's coming, what's on the agenda?
"Playing music in a few fields, and more work on our forthcoming second album."

Tell us about your latest projects?
"Our new album is perhaps just over half done, and sounding great. We've got a few other exciting things in the FF factory pipeline which I'd love to tell you about, but you'll have to wait for the official announcements. Apologies."

What current artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
"Personally, Tony Allen. As for the whole band, so far on our new recordings we've been channeling Depeche Mode, Carl Craig, Black Sabbath and Justin Timberlake."

What are you favourite/biggest tunes of the moment?
BDI - City & Industry
Wild Geese - Labyrinth
Omar S - Feeling You (Henrik Schwarz mix)

What can we expect from your show at Stop Making Sense?
"Disco, House and Techno from 3 and a bit decades, probably a Friendly Fires remix or two if we're in the mood, and at least one howling error which I will attempt to laugh off and/or blame the equipment for."

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play at the festival?
"Juan Atkins, Carl Craig, Robelledo and Optimo."

Any unusual festival tips?
"Wet wipes."

Where will we find you at sunrise on Sunday morning?
"Having a quiet word with myself in the bathroom."

Party time: SMS bring the beach to London!

You can't say we're not good to you...following on from roadblocked SMS parties back to back in East and West London earlier in the year we're back, bringing another sun-kissed taster of what you can expect from our first festival in Croatia this September.

On Thursday 24th June we hit Favela Chic with lives bands Rogue Nouveau - the jazz-hip-hop-soul brainchild of sassy singer/MC Natalia Sheppard (pictured, above) - and Hannah and the Heartbreak, whose previously toured with Martina Topley-Bird and is part of North London's vibrant warehouse scene. Support on the night comes from SMS favourite cumbia-championing world music renegade Russ Jones and resident Madera Verde.

The night after, on Friday 25th June, we return to Notting Hill Arts Club with an all-out electronic affair headlined by secretsundaze resident Giles Smith with special guest Lakuti of sud electronic fame. Expect cutting edge house and techno with a distinctly cool, continental flavour.

See you 'pon the floor...

THURSDAY 24TH JUNE
@ FAVELA CHIC
LIVE: ROGUE NOUVEAU + HANNAH AND THE HEARTBREAK
DJS:  RUSS JONES + MADERA VERDE
Favela Chic, 91-93 Great Eastern Street, London, EC2A 3HZ / Tel: 0207 6134228. Nearest tube: Old Street
Entry free before 9pm - £3 after / 7pm – 1am

FRIDAY 25TH JUNE
@ NOTTING HILL ARTS CLUB
DJS: GILES SMITH (secretsundaze)+ LAKUTI (süd electronics)
Notting Hill Arts Club, 21 Notting Hill Gate, London, W11 3JQ
Nearest tube: Notting Hill / Tel: 020 74604459
Free entry before 8pm, £6 before 11pm, £8 after / 7pm – 2am

SMS mix 09 - Friendly Fires

One of British music's brightest talents, party-starting XL-signed trio Friendly Fires are equally adept at covering shimmering Chicago house tracks as they are dreaming up their own edgy take on dance punk-pop that's won over fans of Talking Heads and Michael Mayer alike thanks to gems like 'Paris' and 'Jump In The Pool'.

As a taster for their forthcoming DJ set at Stop Making Sense festival this September we bring you their brilliant 'Eggs Benedict' mix, a wide-eyed fusion of Detroit techno, Windy City house and Californian pop cool courtesy of the one and only Ariel Pink.

Oh yes...

Stream: SMS mix 09 - Friendly Fires

Tracklisting:

Jesse’s Gang – ‘Real Love’ – Geffen
Jodie ‘Fingers’ Finch – ‘Jack Your Big Booty (BHQ No Acid mix)’ – Lets Pet Puppies
Terre Thaemlitz – ‘Masturjakor (Kink and Neville Watson remix)’ – Mule Musiq
Green Velvet feat. Kid Sister – ‘Everybody Wants’ – Relief Records
Ike – ‘Dizkadenz’ – Philpot Records
KZA – ‘On&On&On’ – Endless Flight
King Cosmic – ‘Freaky Queen (Paul Hardy remix)’ – Hot Milk
Basic Soul Unit – ‘Hope Unity Vision’ – New Kanada
Kink – ‘Psyche Funk’ – Kolour Recordings
Quince – ‘Electric’ – Delsin Records
Rebolledo – ‘Guerrero’ – Comeme Records
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – ‘Don’t Think Twice (Love)’ – Paw Tracks

SMS mix 08 - Slutty Fringe

So, here we go again...another week, another exclusive hot-mix from the considerable pool of musical talent set to bring down the rafters at Stop Making Sense this summer.

Deck duties on SMS mix 08 fall to much-respected blogger, label runner, club promoter and, of course, taste-making DJ Slutty Fringe, a sun-drenched selection of Balearica and modern disco featuring choice cuts by the likes of Prins Thomas, Todd Terje, Aeroplane and more - full tracklisting and interview below...

Download: SMS mix 08 - Slutty Fringe

Tell us about the mix you’ve recorded for Stop Making Sense...
"Well this is about the 4th attempt at it, in 15 years of DJ'ing I think I've recorded about 3 mixes in total, every time I sit down to do one I end up getting too carried away, trying to create something completely epic and heroic and then get bogged down in the details. Like for this I must have tried about 5 completely different mixes, from pure ambient through to acid house, via god knows what. In end after looking around and realising I was sat in a room surrounded by about 400 records all spread over the floor I just selected a dozen or so tracks I've played recently, got any notion of fancy edits or messing around with software out of my head and just did it as I would a live set."

Any exclusives or particular favourites on there?
"Nothing too exclusive I’m afraid but certainly some of my favourites, I've wanted to sneak To Rococo Rot's 'Telema' into a mix for some time, and I had to get something by Joakim in there, probably one of my favourite producers of all time."

Summer's coming, what's on the agenda?
"Sweating in an office for most of it probably. Still hopefully I’ll shed some of my wintry palour. If all goes to plan I'll get out to a few festivals this Summer, I usually try to get to Standon in the UK, and then I'll probably do Soundwave before finishing the summer in style at SMS. And of course I’m looking forward to seeing England crash in the 2nd round of the World Cup."

Tell us about your latest projects?
"Well, our label, Hot Pockets is going gangbusters, we've just put out our 4th release, a little yellow 7" by this amazing pop band from Brighton :Kinema:. That's a lot of work, money and effort but just about worth it in the end. That moment it arrives from the pressing plant, it's just the best feeling and generally lasts right up till you get your first royalty statement through. Then I think my next major project is a complete redesign of the Slutty Fringe site, we redesigned it last year, but it was only really cosmetic, the plan now is to sit down and really look at just what we can and want to do with all the tools available to us. We really do live in an astonishing time, it's easy to forget sometimes how easier it is to be creative these days. My aim is that later in the year we'll start producing our own little 30 minute shows. The fact that we can do all that with some cheap equipment and lots of good will I still sometimes just find staggering. It's taken me a long time to fully realise that you really can have a go at anything you want, you have to be a bit bloody minded about it. Once that's done it's time to go back to basics, I've just started a little publishing company and hopefully will put out a couple of books by some friends, and hopefully produce a print version of Slutty Fringe, I still love creating things that you can actually hold in your hands.'

What current artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
"You know after feeling a bit jaded for a while, the past 6 months has been really inspiring musically, people like Walls, The Chap, Grovesnor, have all put out amazing albums this year. Then in the clubs you've got people like Hot City, or the whole Night Slugs crew redefining house music, and there’s still more amazing disco records coming out than I think anyone really knows what to do with. I just think it’s a really great time for club music again."

What are you favourite/biggest tunes of the moment?
"At home I can't stop playing 'Even Your Friend' and 'We Work in Bars' off the new Chap album. Club wise... Leo Zero has been knocking out these amazing hip-house re-edits recently that are just perfect in every way, and something like the recent 2 Bears EP, I think that’s the first record for ages that I’ve ever played every track off the EP in one set, so, so good."

What can we expect from your show at Stop Making Sense?
"Well, I think I'm on about lunch time/early afternoon on the Saturday and I was out at Petrcane last summer and know that the Croatian midday sun is pretty fierce, so I'll just keep things nice and gentle. Lots of dubby disco, ambient pop and Balearic tracks, music for people to slowly get their heads together for the day and night ahead."

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play at the festival?
"Oh too many, it's such a great lineup. I mean take your pick Optimo, Allez Allez, The Very Best, it's hard to choose. Look at the Secretsundaze stage, you could just spend the whole day there, I can't wait for Carl Craig's set, that will be really special under the stars."

Where will we find you at sunrise on Sunday morning?
"You know, I'd love to say i'll be there giving it 'big box, little box' on the beach, but I'm not a young blade anymore and I desperately need all the beauty sleep i can get, so I'll probably be tucked up in bed somewhere snoring contentedly."

SMS mix 08- Tracklisting:

Goldfrapp - Happiness (BTWS Edit)
Antenna - Camino Del Sol (Joakim Remix)
Chaz Jankel - Glad To Know You (Todd Terje Edit)
Memory Cassette - Surfin (Sail A Whale Version)
James Yuill - This Sweet Love (Prins Thomas Sneaky Edit)
Sebastian Tellier - Kilometre (Aeroplane Remix)
To Rococo Rot - Telema
Tiger & Woods - Deflowered
Steelers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You (Todd Terje Edit)
Phenomenal Handclap Band - You'll Dissapear (Munk Remix)
Daft Punk - Harder, Faster, Stronger, Better (Dave Wrangler Remix)

Running Tings: SMS x Nike Tied Together

Stop Making Sense has joined forces with NIKE to support their TIED TOGETHER campaign, an epic journey in response to a global health crisis.

Five cities. 120 hours of racing. 24 hour relays. This week NIKE, (RED) and people in London, New York, Milan, Berlin and Paris are lacing up and moving through the streets of their city to help fight HIV/AIDS in Africa.

24 teams of London’s most creative ambassadors - including yours truly (alongside the likes of Girlcore, VICE, Work It, Mixcloud, SUP and others) - have joined forces to raise awareness of the ongoing battle against this disease and to help the people suffering from it.

Journeying through the city, each team has devised individual t-shirt designs and routes to broadcast their support and rally behind the cause. We'll also be calling on our rafter of festival DJs to provide a 24-hour musical mix courtesy of Stop Making Sense.

The accompanying exhibition at Nike 1948 concept space in Shoreditch showcases London’s very best talent interpreting, expressing and pressing home the urgency and severity of this worldwide issue.

NIKE will contribute 100% of its profits from the sales of (NIKE) RED Laces to the Global Fund and to support soccer-based programs to help fight AIDS in Africa.

Pictures, info and report to follow!

Richard 'Time and Space Machine' Norris: exclusive new mix for FACT magazine

Richard Norris aka the Time and Space Machine aka one half of Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve (with Erol Alkan), has done a mixtape for FACT.

An altogether cosmic affair that spans psychedelia, Balearic, prog, kraut and disco and is a perfectly pitched indicator of what you can expect from Norris' set at Stop Making Sense this September. With the sand between your toes and waves lapping up to shore in the background, it should go down a treat...

Norris has been entertaining us all year with his Fantasy Island sessions at London’s Camino Bar, and this year released the first Time and Space Machine album, following mini-LPs Volume One (2008) and Volume Two (2009).

Download: The Time and Space Machine in the mix for FACT

Tracklisting:


1. The Loaded Angels – Aquarius Rising (from ‘Jack The Tab’)

2. Alan Hawkshaw – Rumplestiltskin

3. Warm Sounds – Nite Is A Coming

4. Jaqueline Tiaeb – 7 Heures

5. Jabberwocky – Alice OST

6. George Romanos – Two Little Hours

7. River Theme (T+SM Edit)

8. All Along The Watchtower – Savage Grace

9. Prelude – The Millenium

10. Zoltan The Mynd Reader

11. Fine Jung Thing – The Electric Flag

12. The Oud and the Fuzz – John Berberian

13. Love Like A Man – Helmuth Brandenburg

14. Hard Time – A Time and Space vs Cherrystones edit

15. The March Of The Chessmen – AliceOST

16. Tarot Theme – Andrew Bown

17. Buffalo Roam (T+SM Edit)

18. June – Nirvana

19. Bonus

20. Bernard Fevre – New From Tomorrow (T+SM Mix)